Iron Man 3

[MightyB]

ok mighty B let me break it down for you.

the iron patriot thing is just a little obvious fan service, and it fits perfectly with the war machine thing, since in that story line rhodey still works for the government. second the mandarin isnt chinese because, the chinese co production company, called the mandarin racist, so they turned manderin into an organization, so the manderin is not a person. shane black is a great director and superb writer, i think this will be a return to form.

Be that as it may... I still remain skeptical. Here's why:

When they sh!t on the original story, themes and characters, you get the live action version of the Last Airbender. F*ck Hollywood. Why don't they just remake yet another movie from the 90s.

[Zenshiite]

Kind of funny. Just feom the trailer it smacks of The Dark Knight Rises doesn't it? I mean, Stark gets taken out by the terrorist group from thr first movie(Ten Rings, League of Shadows) has to make a come back and fight the leader(The Mandarin, Bane/Talia).

[GeneChing]

I like Nguyen's work. The Rebel and Clash were both good.

Johnny Nguyen Wraps Up On IRON MAN 3, Heads To CHINATOWN
Todd Brown, Founder and Editor

If Vietnamese action star Johnny Nguyen keeps this up he'll soon develop super powers of his own. Best known as the star of The Rebel and one of only two men in the world to fight superstars Jet Li and Tony Jaa on screen, Nguyen has now played a key role bringing two of the biggest stars of the Marvel universe to the screen. The man inside the suit for Sam Raimi's first two Spider-Man films, Nguyen has just wrapped up a stint doing stunt work on Shane Black's Iron Man 3 and is now back in Vietnam taking a lead role in upcoming action film Chinatown.

Helmed by his brother Charlie - who also directed The Rebel - Chinatown is a multi-threaded gangster epic promising loads of what Johnny does best: Hardcore, unvarnished martial arts action. Production started on the film this week and should run through the end of the year.

And for those who have been paying close attention, no. This is not the same film as Redemption, the Nguyen Brothers movie announced back in March. That movie is still happening as well but with Charlie having shifted his focus on to Chinatown the directing reins on Redemption have been passed to Clash director Le Thanh Son.

[doug maverick]

Be that as it may... I still remain skeptical. Here's why:

well i wholeheartedly disagree with your statement... you cant even bring last airbender into this argument..because last airbender was not being made by the company that created it...unlike iron man... which is being created by marvel...make no mistake about it. so enjoy the fan service, dont get so anal about it. and prepare for what is sure to be one hell of a movie.

[MightyB]

well i wholeheartedly disagree with your statement... you cant even bring last airbender into this argument..because last airbender was not being made by the company that created it...unlike iron man... which is being created by marvel...make no mistake about it. so enjoy the fan service, dont get so anal about it. and prepare for what is sure to be one hell of a movie.

Is it going to be a fine movie? Sure - but is changing War Machine into Iron Patriot necessary? F**k No.

[GeneChing]

Wang joins cast of Iron Man 3
By Patrick Frater
Sun, 09 December 2012, 22:43 PM (HKT)


Chinese character actor WANG Xueqi 王學圻 has joined the cast of Marvel Entertainment's Iron Man 3 鋼鐵俠３, which shoots in Beijing from this week.

He plays a modest-sized role as Dr Wu and joins a cast already headed by Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley.

The film is set for a 3 May 2013 release in the US and China. It will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in all territories worldwide other than in China where is to be distributed by DMG Entertainment ＤＭＧ娛樂傳媒集團, and Germany and Austria where it is being distributed by the Tele Muenchen Group.

A regular in CHEN Kaige 陳凱歌 films (Yellow Earth 黃土地 (1984), Forever Enthralled 梅蘭芳 (2008), Sacrifice 趙氏孤兒 (2010) and Caught in the Web 搜索), Wang also starred in Bodyguards and Assassins 十月圍城 (2009), Reign of Assassins 劍雨 (2010) and Chongqing Blues 日照重慶 (2010).

I remember him from the two Assassin movies: B&A & RoA.

[GeneChing]

Maybe they can change The Mandarin into The North Korean....

...maybe The Gangnam?

Iron Man 3 lands in Beijing
By Patrick Frater
Sat, 15 December 2012, 10:45 AM (HKT)
Production News

Photos have emerged from the set of Iron Man 3 鋼鐵俠３ in China. Veteran Chinese actor WANG Xueqi 王學圻 is here shown in Beijing's Yondingmen standing next to a fully masked Iron Man character. The co-venture between Marvel Pictures and China's DMG Entertainment ＤＭＧ娛樂傳媒集團 has still not shaken off uncertainty as to whether it will be accorded full Chinese co-production status, but the images from the set can are at least able to demonstrate that Iron Man 3 has real Chinese elements.

[GeneChing]

New Mandarin Character Poster for Iron Man 3
Source: Marvel Studios
February 22, 2013

Marvel Studios has released the new Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) character poster for Iron Man 3 which you can check out below! Opening in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on May 3, the Shane Black-directed action adventure also stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Wang Xuequi.

Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

From Gandhi to rocking Chinese bling like a Cantopop star.

[Bernard]

Anybody saw the latest trailer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIVPiTuYkQ

[doug maverick]

so china is getting its own longer cut. initially people thought it was going to be a censored version but apparently because of copyright laws marvel can use any of its characters. so fox is appearantly playing ball and there will be a tie in with x men days of future past... this blows for us americans..

[GeneChing]

China Gets Own Version of ‘Iron Man 3′
03.29.13 | 01:15PM PT
Superhero pic presents latest oddity in how Hollywood releases its films in China.
Marc Graser
Senior Writer @marcgraser

How Hollywood releases its films in China has always been a murky and ever-changing process. Now “Iron Man 3” creates the latest wrinkle in what it takes to do business in the world’s second-largest moviegoing market.

Disney revealed Friday that it will produce two versions of Marvel Studios’ superhero actioner with one designed specifically for Chinese audiences.

At the same time, it has nixed plans to apply for official Chinese co-production status in the country, despite the fact that the film was produced with DMG Entertainment, a Beijing-based production shingle, and scenes of the film were also shot in the city that included star Robert Downey Jr., in December.

Move comes after there has been a crackdown on what Chinese bizzers see as attempts to take advantage of the benefits of co-production status by paying lip service to the requirements. There were just five films that received co-production status in 2011, according to regulatory body the China Film Group. None of those films came from U.S. companies.

The co-production status would have treated “Iron Man 3” as a domestically produced film and enabled Disney and Marvel to circumvent the government’s import quota limiting the number of foreign releases that are shown in mainland theaters. That would also have given Disney a larger piece of the box office.

But the Mouse House is still getting preferential treatment by producing a version of “Iron Man 3” specifically for Chinese moviegoers that features notable locations and a fair amount of footage that would appeal to local tastes.

“While Marvel and DMG have decided not to apply for co-production status in China, the film includes significant Chinese elements,” Marvel said in a statement.

Chinese thesp Wang Xueqi will appear in both the Chinese version of “Iron Man 3” and its international release, along with the footage shot in Beijing. Wang is playing the relatively minor role of Dr. Wu. But Chinese audiences will also see the addition of China’s top actress, Fan Bingbing, who was recently added to Fox’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” and bonus footage developed specifically for Chinese viewers. Further details, like how many minutes of extra footage will be included, were not available.

DMG oversaw all of those sequences, and will continue to help market and distribute “Iron Man 3” in China.

Studios have been careful to meet a long list of Chinese censorship rules when unspooling their pics there. Last year, James Bond pic “Skyfall” had to cut a scene of a Chinese security guard being killed by an assassin when the government objected to law enforcement being portrayed as incompetent. References to the film’s villain being tortured by Chinese authorities were also removed. Other films like “Men in Black 3,” “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End” and “Mission: Impossible 3″ were also edited.

But “Iron Man 3″ presents one of the rare cases where additional footage was actually added to appease local Chinese tastes.

DMG also similarly found ways around Chinese distribution rules with “Looper,” which it produced. Film caused a stir when it played in China despite reports that regulators had denied it co-production status. But “Looper” got through largely because DMG is a Chinese company, with 900 employees in China and headquarters in Beijing. That means that the film could be considered domestically Chinese, which can provide the same benefits as a co-production.

Marvel described the move as a “springboard for future collaboration with China’s talented stars and its growing film and television industry,” and called its experience on making “Iron Man 3″ there as “very positive.” Disney is paying close attention to its relationship with Chinese officials as it builds its next theme park and resort in Shanghai and looks to expand its overall business there.

Marvel diplomatically ended its statement with, “The ‘Iron Man’ cast and filmmakers look forward to bringing ‘Iron Man’ back to China.”

Remember how Eyes Wide Shut digitally obscured the best scenes for the US market? Actually, that has very little to do with this. I just thought that was funny back then.

[GeneChing]

China's impact made Fox news. Must be true.

‘Iron Man 3,’ China Edition: Hollywood contorts to please country on track for world’s largest box office
By Hollie McKay Pop Tarts Published April 25, 2013 FoxNews.com


LOS ANGELES – The big-budget Hollywood blockbuster that unofficially launches the summer movie season, “Iron Man 3,” opens in the U.S. on May 3. The film premieres the same day in China, and it turns out the Chinese viewing audience received significant attention during the filmmaking process.

Partly financed by the Chinese studio DMG in addition to Hollywood’s Marvel Studios, "Iron Man 3" includes a number of scenes filmed on location in the People’s Republic. According to Marvel Studios, the Chinese edition also includes “significant Chinese elements” including special bonus footage and an appearance by their top actress, Fan Bingbing.

“Iron Man 3” has a huge tie-in with leading Chinese tech brand TCL as well, providing screen time for the company’s flat screen TVs, cloud computing technology, and Smartphone brand. In addition, TCL recently forked out $5 million for the naming rights to Hollywood’s iconic Grauman’s Chinese Theater, so now the film will feature a scene that annihilates the new “TCL Chinese Theater.”

According to multiple reports, the scene appears to have been shot and added following the naming rights announcement in January.

Even the film’s leading man is involved in China outreach. During a promotional trip there earlier this month, Robert Downey Jr., who reprises his role as Tony Stark, excited the crowd by expressing his fascination with Chinese culture and love for Chinese films, while encouraging fans to flock to his superhero movie.

So why is "Iron Man 3" bending over backward to please the Chinese movie market?

The same reason the rest of Hollywood is: money.

Last year, China surpassed Japan to become the second-largest box office behind the United States, with theater earnings up 36 percent to $2.7 billion from the previous year. (The U.S. grew 6 percent by comparison.)

China’s box office gross in 2012 was still about one quarter of America’s, but that is expected to grow to one third of our take this year, and experts say by 2020, at the latest, China’s box office will be looking at the U.S. in the rearview mirror.

In the first three months of 2013 alone, China already added a whopping 1,900 screens.

“In 2004 China was the 25th largest national box office in the world and now it is the second. In five years it will be the biggest,” Robert Cain, a producer and consultant who has been helping filmmakers work with China for several decades, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “China could ultimately have a big influence on whether a film gets financed or not, and we will see an influence based on where movies are shot and the selection of Chinese actors and actresses.”

“China is where the growth is and, if that growth continues, China will eclipse North America as the largest in the world market,” said entertainment lawyer Mathew Alderson of Harris & Moure. “That is where both the opportunity and threat lie."

“China and China’s movie-goers, are now well and truly the buyers,” Alderson added. “So the expectations of the Chinese authorities and the tastes of the Chinese consumer are having a tremendous impact on what is being produced and what is being exhibited.”

Earlier this month, Paramount Pictures announced that it has signed a co-production deal for the upcoming “Transformers 4” with two Chinese entities – JiaFlix Enterprises and China Movie Channel, which is run by the State Administration of Radio Film and Television. The blockbuster will star Chinese actors and be partly shot in China, and it’s also expected that some post-production work will be done there too.

“I think (director) Michael Bay took some convincing,” one insider told us. “He doesn’t like to be told too much about what he can and can’t do in terms of content, but with China he really has to conform.”

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” the previous offering in the franchise, was released in 2011 and brought in an impressive $165 million in China, and that was even before the big boom of 2012.

But hand in hand with playing to Chinese viewers comes working with Chinese censors. While experts say that the navigating Chinese rules and mores is still more of an art than a science, it’s generally accepted that red flags are raised when you disparage the image of the People’s Army or police, show obscene or vulgar content, feature ghosts or the supernatural, show mistreatment of prisoners, advertise religious extremism, display excessive drinking or smoking, or oppose the spirit of law.

And if you dare go off script while shooting in China, prepare for punishment. According to Cain, during a shoot a few years ago in Shanghai, the director decided to change things up a bit and film a take with an extra holding a camcorder pretending to tape a movie at a theater. Sensitive to their reputation as the source of a large chunk of the world’s movie piracy, China told the team their movie would be shut down.

“We begged and pleaded and promised to keep the film on track,” Cain told us. “The lesson there was that there is always someone watching.”

Veteran Asian cinema expert and former Village Roadshow Pictures President Greg Coote emphasized that the Chinese “don’t have a sense of humor” when it comes to meddling with historical facts, as Hollywood often does, and that to gain Chinese approval, Hollywood moviemakers need to be cognizant of cultural concerns in order to not offend, from recognizing that Chinese are prohibited from carrying guns, to knowing that exceeding the speed limit is frowned upon. (Note to "Fast and Furious.")

A well-placed source within Paramount Pictures said that last year a revived, 3-D version of the iconic U.S. fighter pilot film “Top Gun” was submitted to the Chinese censorship board. But alas, the Tom Cruise, pro-American military movie was met with no response at all. The New York Times reported that 20th Century Fox was able to shuffle its hit “Life of Pi” through with only modification to the “religion is darkness” line in the film, while Sony Pictures’ “Karate Kid” was rejected in 2009 even after changes were made, reportedly because its villain was Chinese.

“Mathematically it has to happen that China becomes the number one box office, its growth is extraordinary. But there are so many ifs and buts as to how and if it will change the way we make movies here,” said Coote. “Sometimes the Chinese will just arbitrarily take a movie out of the theater after a week or two, it happened with ‘Avatar,’ so they could play a propaganda film.”

Quentin Tarantino and the teams from Columbia Pictures and the Weinstein Company learned that hard way a few weeks ago when “Django Unchained,” which was modified to remove certain language and scenes to gain censor approval, was unceremoniously plucked from theaters without any explanation. The speculation is that one scene involving distant, full-frontal nudity initially missed the eye of Chinese officials and wasn’t picked up until after the fact.

So as Marvel Studios creates unique Chinese-crafted versions of their hit films, movies like “Transformers” shoot on location there, DreamWorks Animation takes animation jobs from L.A.for the next “Kung Fu Panda 3” to a new Shanghai studio, and actors like Keanu Reeves forge partnerships with Chinese companies to co-finance future film projects – it is clear that Hollywood knows there's a new, really big player in Tinseltown.

[GeneChing]

...and does very well with it.

Iron Man shows mettle with mega Asia opening
By Patrick Frater
Mon, 29 April 2013, 15:29 PM (HKT)

Iron Man 3 showed its strength with a huge opening weekend in Asia, exceeding $78 million.

In total the Disney-distributed sequel, produced by Marvel in association with China's DMG, opened in 42 international territories and grossed an estimated $195.3 million.

Within the Asia-Pacific its biggest success was South Korea, where it scored $19.2 million. Australia was close behind on $18.4 million.

It set local records with biggest ever opening weekends in Hong Kong ($4.9 million), Indonesia ($4.5 million), Taiwan ($8.4 million), The Philippines ($7.4 million), Malaysia ($4.6 million), Vietnam and Singapore.

Disney reported that the film also registered the biggest opening day in Taiwan, The Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.

In India Iron Man 3 earned $5.2 million in the weekend Taiwan, making it the second highest opening weekend for a Hollywood film and 44% above The Avengers.

Only in Japan, did the film appear (relatively) weak. There it was the top Hollywood movie and grossed $5.4 million, including what Disney says was the third highest opening day for a Marvel title. Number two Hollywood title in Japan was Lincoln (handled by Fox) with $877,000 and a nine day cumulative total of $4.78 million. Fox International Productions' co-production with Toei Dragonball Z earned $781,000 in its fifth weekend for a five week cumulative of $26.7 million.

Iron Man 3 opens in China on 1 May and in the US on 3 May.

[GeneChing]

Saw a funny PRC netizen comment on Sina Weibo:

@琢磨先生: After watching Iron Man 3, I suddenly realized one principle: Only terrorists can make every television channel broadcast the same program at the same time.

Iron Man 3 breaks opening day record in China
By Stephen Cremin
Thu, 02 May 2013, 17:35 PM (HKT)


Iron Man 3 took RMB105 million (US$17.0 million) in China yesterday, a new opening day record. Including midnight shows on Tuesday night, it has now taken RMB117 million (US$19.0 million).

The previous record holder, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), made RMB102 million (US$16.6 million) on its opening day in July 2011. Including midnight previews, it made RMB114 million (US$18.5 million).

The China version of Iron Man 3 runs longer than the interntional cut at 133 minutes 20 seconds, with extra scenes starring WANG Xueqi 王學圻 and FAN Bingbing 范冰冰. The latter also cameoed in local blockbuster Lost in Thailand 人再囧途之泰囧.

The success of Iron Man 3 didn't completely wipe out the competition.

So Young 致我們終將逝去的青春 made RMB41.7 million (US$6.83 million) yesterday, down from RMB68.7 million (US$11.1 million) the previous day. After six days in cinemas, the relationship drama has taken RMB326 million (US$53.0 million).

There are no new films opening in China until 10 May, when several new titles are released including Oblivion. J. J. ABRAMS's Star Trek Into Darkness is currently scheduled to open in China on 28 May.

The next major Chinese-language film to open is Peter CHAN 陳可辛's drama American Dreams in China 中國先生 starring HUANG Xiaoming 黃曉明, DENG Chao 鄧超 and TONG Dawei 佟大為 on 17 May.

[doug maverick]

Saw a funny PRC netizen comment on Sina Weibo:

this was truly the best iron man so far imo. there was a twist that angered alot of fans. it didnt bother me too much. this was deffinitley a stripped down action film. tonys slogan is "i am iron man" and we got to see why.