Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 is an upcoming American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It will be the sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and the seventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being the first major release in that franchise since the crossover film The Avengers. Shane Black is set to direct a screenplay he co-wrote with Drew Pearce, which will be based on the "Extremis" story arc by Warren Ellis. Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films, serves as executive producer, along with Kevin Feige. Robert Downey, Jr. reprises his role as the title character, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, and Favreau reprising their roles as Pepper Potts, James Rhodes, and Happy Hogan, respectively. Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, and Ben Kingsley round out the film's principal cast.

After the release of Iron Man 2, The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment's new corporate parent, agreed to pay Paramount Pictures, the distributor of the first two Iron Man films, $115 million for the worldwide distribution rights to both Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. Favreau decided not to return as director, and in February 2011 Black was hired as the film's director. Throughout April and May 2012, the film's supporting cast was filled out, with Kingsley, Pearce, and Hall brought in to portray key roles. Filming began on May 23, 2012 and it was shot primarily in North Carolina, with additional filming in Florida and China. Iron Man 3 is scheduled to be released on May 3, 2013, and the film will be converted to 3D in post-production.

Premise
Tony Stark faces a powerful enemy, the Mandarin, when he embarks on a quest to find those responsible for destroying his private world. Along the way, he discovers the answer to the curiosity question that has secretly haunted him: "Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?"

Cast

 * Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
 * A self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist who escaped captivity with a suit of armor he created, who now struggles to keep his technology in the right hands. On making a third Iron Man film, Downey replied "My sense of it is that we need to leave it all on the field — whatever that means in the end. You can pick several different points of departure for that." Downey, who had previously starred in Black's film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, said, "Bringing in Shane Black to write and direct Iron Man 3 to me is basically the only transition from Favreau to a 'next thing' that Favreau and the audience and Marvel and I could ever actually sign off on." On following up The Avengers, Downey said that they "tried to be practical, in a post-Avengers world. What are his challenges now? What are some limitations that might be placed on him? And what sort of threat would have him, as usual, ignore those limitations?"


 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts:
 * Stark's girlfriend, longtime associate and personal assistant.
 * Don Cheadle as USAF Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machie:
 * Stark's best friend, the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force in the department of acquisitions and the operator of the War Machine armor. Rhodes' armor is redesigned/upgraded and will take on an American flag-inspired color scheme in the film, similar to the Iron Patriot armor from the comics. Kevin Feige said of Rhodes and the armor, "The notion in the movie is that a red, white and blue suit is a bold statement, and it’s meant to be. With Rhodey, he’s very much the foil to Tony’s eccentricities, and in this one you get to see this and be reminded of the trust and friendship between them in that great Shane Black buddy-cop fashion."


 * Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian:
 * The creator of the Extremis virus. On why he took the role, Pearce said, "I feel a little more experimental in what I'll take on these days, but I still don't know that I would want to play the superhero myself, since I'm playing a different kind of character in this film... The main difference was that, when I did The Time Machine, I was pretty much in all of it, so it was a really grueling experience. Prometheus and Iron Man are really kind of cameo stuff, so the experience of shooting them... I mean, on some level, it's tricky because you feel like a bit of an outsider. You don’t really live the experience that you do when you're there all day every day with everybody. But at the same time, it can be more fun sometimes because you're just working in concentrated spurts."
 * Rebecca Hall as Dr. Maya Hansen:
 * One of the Extremis creators. Hall confirmed that Hansen would be a "strong female character", and described her decision to take the role, saying, "I decided to do Iron Man 3 because I've never done the 'hurry up and wait' movie before. Even the studio movies I've done have been small studio movies, or indie films that we made on a wing and a prayer. I love those, but Iron Man is refreshing in a way because it's something out of my realm of experiences."
 * James Badge Dale as Eric Savin:
 * Dale stated that his character in the film was "loosely based on" the comic version of the character.According to Dale, "Ben Kingsley is the mouthpiece. Guy Pearce is the brain. I’m the muscle.”


 * Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan:
 * Tony Stark's bodyguard and chauffeur. Favreau, who served as both actor and director on the previous two Iron Man films, described his new role on the film, saying he was "like a proud grandfather who doesn't have to change the diapers but gets to play with the baby."
 * Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin:
 * The leader of an international terrorist organization. Kingsley was filming Ender's Game when he was cast, and said that, "Quite soon I'll be with everybody and we'll be discussing the look and the feel and the direction of the character. It's very early days yet, but I'm so thrilled to be on board." The Mandarin was initially set to appear in the first Iron Man film. Of the character, Kevin Feige stated, "The Mandarin is [Iron Man's] most famous foe in the comics mainly because he’s been around the longest. If you look, there’s not necessarily a definitive Mandarin storyline in the comics. So it was really about having an idea. In terms of the Fu Manchu stereotyping that was involved, we never had any interest in that. He’s relentless."

Paul Bettany reprises his role from previous films as JARVIS, Stark's AI system, and Stan Lee will have a cameo. William Sadler, Fan Bingbing and Stephanie Szostak were also cast in unspecified roles.
 * Wang Xueqi as Dr. Wu: Initial reports had Wang playing Chen Lu, who was Radioactive Man in the comics.
 * Ashley Hamilton as Jack Taggert / Firepower

Development
Following the release of Iron Man 2, a conflict between Paramount Pictures, which had distribution rights to certain Marvel properties, and The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment's new corporate parent, clouded the timing and the distribution arrangement of a possible third film. On October 18, 2010, Walt Disney Studios agreed to pay Paramount at least $115 million for the worldwide distribution rights to Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. Disney, Marvel, and Paramount announced a May 3, 2013 release date for Iron Man 3.

Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau said in December 2010 that he would not direct Iron Man 3, opting to direct Magic Kingdom instead. He remained an executive producer of director Joss Whedon's crossover film The Avengers and will also serve as an executive producer of Iron Man 3. In February 2011 Shane Black entered final negotiations to direct and write the screenplay, and in March Drew Pearce was hired to co-write the screenplay. Black described his take on the film as not being "two men in iron suits fighting each other", and more like a "Tom Clancy thriller", with Iron Man fighting real world type villains.

Pre-production
In September 2011, Marvel Studios reached an agreement to shoot the film primarily out of EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina. Michigan was also in contention to land the production, but the Michigan Film Office could not match North Carolina's tax incentives. In April 2012, Ben Kingsley entered into negotiations to play a villain in Iron Man 3. The film's fake working title was revealed to be Caged Heat, and Marvel Studios worked with the Tona B. Dahlquist Casting company to hire extras in the North Carolina area. The following week, producer Kevin Feige revealed that Iron Man 3 would begin shooting in North Carolina "in five weeks", and said that it "is a full-on Tony Stark-centric movie ... very much inspired by the first half of Iron Man ... [H]e’s stripped of everything, he’s backed up against a wall, and he’s gotta use his intelligence to get out of it. He can’t call Thor, he can’t call Cap, he can’t call Nick Fury, and he can’t look for the Helicarrier in the sky." A few days later, The Walt Disney Company China, Marvel Studios and DMG Entertainment announced an agreement to co-produce Iron Man 3 in China. DMG will partly finance, produce in China with Marvel, and handle co-production matters. DMG will also distribute the film in China in tandem with Disney.

The next week, Guy Pearce entered into final talks to play Aldrich Killian, a character who is featured in the "Extremis" comic book story arc. Chinese star Andy Lau became involved in negotiations to join the film, as a Chinese scientist and old friend of Tony Stark's who comes to his aid. Jessica Chastain entered into discussions for a role in the film but bowed out due to scheduling conflicts. In May, Rebecca Hall was cast in her place, and her role was described as "a scientist who plays a pivotal role in the creation of a nanotechnology, known as Extremis". Over the next few weeks, James Badge Dale was cast as the villain Eric Savin, Ashley Hamilton was cast as the armored villain Firepower, and Jon Favreau was set to reprise his role as Happy Hogan from the first two films. William Sadler was also cast in the film, though his role was not specified. Despite erroneous early reports that Cobie Smulders would reprise her role as Maria Hill from The Avengers in the film, Smulders wrote on her verified Twitter page that this was not so. Scarlett Johansson also dismissed rumours she would reprise her role as Black Widow in the film.

Filming
Filming began in Wilmington, North Carolina on May 23, 2012 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios. From June 4 through June 6, filming took place in Cary, North Carolina at the Epic Games headquarters, with a large Christmas tree set up on the front lawn. A scene was also shot at the Wilmington International Airport. On set photos in North Carolina featured an actor wearing armor similar to the "Iron Patriot" suit from the comics. It was later reported to be the War Machine armor painted in red, white and blue. Another picture appeared online showing a building with a sign saying AIM, Advanced Idea Mechanics. In late June it was reported that the large water tank in the EUE/Screen Gems Studios was being used to film a scene in which Stark's Malibu mansion would be destroyed and fall into the ocean. It was also reported that Andy Lau had turned down the role he was negotiating to play, due to the birth of his first child on May 9. With Lau out, other actors in consideration for the role included Chen Daoming and Wu Xiubo. Chinese actresses reportedly contacted for separate roles included Yao Chen and Fan Bingbing.

From July 19 to August 1 filming took place on Oak Island, North Carolina, to "film aerial drops over the Atlantic Ocean". In late July, it was reported that Stephanie Szostak had been cast in the film. Filming took place in Rose Hill, North Carolina in early August 2012. On August 14, actress Dale Dickey said she had been cast in the film, and was currently shooting her scenes. On August 15, production was halted when Robert Downey, Jr. suffered an ankle injury. Shooting had resumed by August 24. In early September, it was reported that Wang Xueqi had been cast for a role for which Lau had initially been cast.

Cast and crew began arriving in Florida on October 1, to shoot scenes on Dania Beach and around South Florida. That same day, Robert Downey Jr. returned to the set after his ankle injury. In early October, scenes were shot at a replica of the Malibu restaurant Neptune's Net, and filming took place on location at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. A flashback scene of New Year's 1999/2000 was being filmed at the Miami Beach Resort, Miami Beach, FL on October 10 and 11, 2012. The production returned to Wilmington in mid-October for additional filming. On November 1, scenes were shot at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and at an abandoned cement factory made up as an Afghanistan village market. Filming in the United States wrapped on November 7 in Wilmington.

Filming began in Beijing, China on December 10. Filming was scheduled to wrap a week later on December 17, 2012. The China filming will not include the main cast and crew. In January 2013, it was reported that a film crew led by Shane Black will begin location scouting in Hyderabad, India and Bengaluru, India between January 20 and 24. Also in January, Don Cheadle confirmed that reshooting is taking place in Manhattan Beach.

Music
In October 2012, Brian Tyler signed on to score the film.

Release
Iron Man 3 will be distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures with the exception of China, where it will be released by DMG Entertainment, and Germany and Austria, where it will be released by Tele München Group.

Marketing
In July 2012, at the San Diego Comic-Con International, a new Iron Man armor from the movie was on display on the convention floor, along with the seven armors from the first two Iron Man movies and The Avengers. A panel was held, during which Shane Black, Robert Downey, Jr., Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige discussed making the film, and several minutes of footage from the movie were shown.