Favreau Squashes Iron Man 2 Start Date Rumor

Terrence Howard, who co-starred in “Iron Man,” may have gotten caught up in all the excitement over the whole idea of doing an Iron Man 2 when he sited March 2009 as the start date for the next film in a recent interview. While there will definitely be another Iron Man movie coming, March or April 2009 is not what director Jon Favreau has in mind. If the film begins shooting when Howard projected then rumors began flying on the internet that the movie would get its theatrical release by April 2010.

Calling Howard’s proposed starting date and a release date of April 2010 a tad “unrealistic,” Favreau states in his online blog:

“I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010,” Favreau wrote. “Neither Robert [Robert Downey Jr.] nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet.”

What the famous actor-turned-director does sees as realistic is a three year gap between each new Iron Man film. Of course that means that Downey Jr. would be well into his 50’s by the time the third film roles around. Then again, Harrison Ford proved in Indy 4 that age needn’t be an obstacle.

“This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation,” Favreau continued. “It is difficult because there are no Marvel ‘09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of [for the next film] and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.”

The first film, which opened on April 30 was a box office bonanza for Marvel, garnering more than $288 million to date.