The Avengers has only been in domestic theaters for three weekends, but its box office totals are completely off the charts. Thanks to poor competition, the added bonus of 3D and the fact that it's one of the best movies the superhero genre has produced, The Avengers has already made $463 million in America. This puts it at number five on the all-time chart, and this weekend it's expected that the movie will overtake Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace for the number four spot on the list. Needless to say, the folks over at Marvel are feeling pretty damn confident right now, and they deserve to feel that way. What's even better is that extra confidence could lead to great things for Iron Man 3.
Latino-Review is reporting from an unnamed source that the incredible success of Joss Whedon's superhero team film has inspired Marvel Studios to bump Iron Man 3's budget up from $140 million to a square $200 million (for reference, Avengers made more than that in its first weekend). Production on the second sequel begins today down in Wilmington, North Carolina and is operating with the code name Caged Heat. The movie brings back Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Paul Bettany to play Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, James Rhodey and Jarvis, respectively, and has also reportedly added Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall and James Badge Dale to the mix. Shane Black, who last directed the amazing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, is helming the movie and co-wrote the script with Drew Pearce.
Should this be true, it would be truly amazing. In the long run $60 million can be a gamechanger and could allow the filmmakers behind Iron Man 3 a lot of freedom. My only concern is that the money could go to their heads and a lot of waste and excess could be added to the movie, but the truth is that I trust Shane Black as a responsible director. Let's hope that this story is accurate.
