There are big doings regarding the blockbuster sequel to one of 2008’s surprise hits. Yahoo Movies confirms that Mickey Rourke has signed on to play the villain Whiplash in Iron Man 2. One of the initial sticking points was reportedly a $250,000 offer to Rourke, whose Oscar-nominated turn in The Wrestler has raised his price tag considerably.

Money was also reported to be a problem with Terrence Howard, who played Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes in the first movie. He’ll be replaced by Don Cheadle in the sequel.

I’m assuming Marvel Entertainment opened up the purse strings a little more to get Scarlett Johanssen cast as sexy Russian super spy Black Widow. One of the movies rumored to be in development at Marvel is based on SHIELD, the spy agency that assists Marvel heroes on their missions sometimes.

Samuel L. Jackson makes more movies before 9 a.m. than most actors do all year, or so it seems. E Online! reports that Marvel Entertainment is working on a nine-picture deal that would keep Jackson playing SHIELD Director Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and eight other Marvel films.

As Marvel leads up to its much anticipated Avengers movie other films rumored to be in the pipeline include Thor and Captain America. A possible scenario might involve Jackson appearing in those movies to recruit the heroes, as he did at the end of Iron Man. There’s even talk of a SHIELD centered espionage action flick.

In the “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” climate of Hollywood, it wouldn’t surprise me if that SHIELD movie’s future rides on the success of the G.I. Joe movie. In the meantime, Col. Nick Fury is about to smite the United States’ enemies with vengeance and a furious anger.

Image:Bauer-Griffin

Today at Marvel.com,the company announced the production of a new animated series, “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Film Roman, the company that produces The Simpsons and King of the Hill, is already at work on a 26-episode first season. The new series is expected to hit the air in 2011. It won’t be alone as 2009 brings a plethora of Marvel animated action including Nicktoons Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man: Armored Adventures, as well as Marvel Super Hero Squad and The Black Panther.

Marvel’s plan here is obvious as it’s moving to get an Avengers live action movie into theaters in 2011 too. The cartoon will feature a very fan friendly Avengers lineup including Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America. Don’t worry longtime Avengers fans, team stalwarts Thor, Giant Man and Wasp are on hand too. Fox tried an Avengers cartoon in 1999 but it didn’t feature the “Big Three” of Cap, Iron Man and Thor and was thus very short-lived.

You know, I’m often nervous when Hollywood discusses remakes of/sequels to the classics. But with the advances made in special effects these days, it would almost be a sin not to do a Tron sequel.

In an interview with The Guardian, Jeff Bridges says he had to step back into the world of Tron because it was so much fun. And no, he will not be wearing any Neon G-strings this time around. The man who may forever be known as “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski also talks about his first turn in a blockbuster. As Iron Man’s Obadiah Stane, Bridges helped turn a C-list supervillain into one of the A-list hits of the summer. In a side note, if you want your child to grow up to be a supervillain, naming him Obadiah is an excellent start.

But back on topic, a Tron sequel. Was there ever a better franchise for geek potential? The movie was awesome. The arcade game was epic. I can’t wait to see what next generation special effects can do for this one.

Today’s DVD offerings are dominated by the unlikely combination of an actor many had written off and a comic book hero that was solidly C-list before his movie debut.

That’s right, today on DVD is the release of Fox TV movie Nick Fury:Agent of Shield starring David Hasselhoff. Oh, and there’s some movie about a guy called Iron Man that you may have heard of. He runs errands for Nick Fury, who is apparently also a master of disguise. Over the course of a decade he went from looking like Hasselhoff to Samuel L. Jackson.

Seriously though, this movie was a great opening showcase for Marvel’s new film studio. And it’s seen a career resurgence for Robert Downey Jr. who is suddenly one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again. Critic Ward Triplett of the Kansas City Star praises the extras on the two-disc and Blu-Ray versions of the flick, including a documentary called I Am Iron Man that runs for nearly two hours itself. Those purchasing the DVD at Wal-Mart get the live action film and the pilot episode for Iron Man:Armored Adventures, a NickToon that will debut in 2009. 

Image: Paramount Pictures, 2008

                                                     The Hollywood Reporter tells us that actor turned scribe Justin Theroux is negotiating with Marvel Studios to be the writer for Iron Man 2. If things work out, it won’t be his first collaboration with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. Theroux has story and screenplay credit along with Ben Stiller on the upcoming action comedy Tropic Thunder.  Yes, that is the movie in which Downey wears blackface. Ahem, moving on.

Theroux’s most recent high-profile acting gig was as John Hancock in HBO’s John Adams mini series. Last year Theroux directed his first film Dedication. Iron Man was a huge hit as the first film from Marvel Studios. Since its May 2 opening it has pulled in a Tony Stark like $566 million worldwide. The sequel is scheduled for an April 30, 2010 release.

Image: Paramount Pictures, 2008

In a battle of unconventional superheroes, Hellboy II: The Golden Army edged out Hancock to win the weekend. Hellboy brought in $35.9 million and became the third comic-book based movie to hold the no. 1 spot, following Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk.  A fourth comic property, Wanted nearly made it but was beaten by Pixar’s WALL-E when those films opened.

Will Smith vehicle Hancock slipped into second place with $33 million. It’s still cementing Smith’s midsummer legend though, pulling in an impressive $165 million in just 12 days. Hellboy’s reign at the top will be a brief one though, as the fourth comic book property to take no.1 will certainly be The Dark Knight.

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After teasing a movie about Marvel superteam The Avengers in both Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, now they’ve got to determine who will round out the squad.

Iron Man director Jon Favreau told USA Today he and Marvel Studios are looking at Captain America, Thor and Ant Man. That’s in addition to Hulk and Iron Man already set up in their own movies. Films featuring Thor and Cap are reported to be in the pipeline. They’re planning Thor in June of 2010 and a Captain America flick in 2011. This may be the greatest time to be a comic geek in the history of the world.

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures, 2008

Buoyed by a new hit franchise (Iron Man) and one of its oldest (Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) Paramount Pictures has passed the $1 billion mark in domestic box office.

That’s right, make your Dr. Evil face, one billion dollars. That’s a lot of movie tickets. The surprise hit Iron Man was a production of Marvel Studios but distributed by Paramount and has pulled down $305 million domestically. It played to stellar reviews and will no doubt open the floodgates for more comic-related fare.

Indy drew mixed reviews, largely due to a complex plot involving Roswell and aliens. It’s funny, initially Cynthia and I were wondering whether an Indiana Jones sequel would fall under our sci fi/fantasy umbrella. Little did we know how sci-fi Indiana was going to get. Despite the ambivalence of reviewers, Indiana Jones and Steven Spielberg are guaranteed to make money together. They’ve raked in $291 million at this point.

But Paramount hasn’t just been a genre juggernaut. Family flick Kung Fu Panda has grossed $156 million domestically.

Image: Paramount Pictures, 2008

If you needed any further proof that his star turn as Marvel superhero Iron Man has resurrected Robert Downey Jr’s career, he’s now getting his own star on the Walk of Fame.

He won’t be the only superhero joining the fold, as Wolverine himself Hugh Jackman will be immortalized as well. If this were a Marvel comic, two superheroes showing up at the same place unexpectedly would totally be cause for them to fight. And we’d have a perfect director in place to film the conflict as Batman director Tim Burton is getting his star in this group. That pretty much settles it. I demand that these three sit down and hash out Batman vs. Wolverine vs. Iron Man.

Yes, I realize that Batman is a DC character guaranteeing zero chance of this ever happening. It’s a shame. After all, that movie would be a definite billion-dollar blockbuster. But Ben Kingsley is also going onto the walk. Batman vs. Wolverine vs. Gandhi and his powers of peaceful resistance. Don’t try to tell me Kingsley wouldn’t do it. He’s in The Love Guru, it’s become blatantly obvious there’s no check he won’t take.

Image courtesy of Newscom.