Someone get Jon Favreau a drink. A stiff one. The genial Queens-born actor-director is currently facing what may be the second-biggest challenge of the summer blockbuster season. (The first belongs to the Warner Bros. marketing team who has to figure out how to sell “The Dark Knight” using images of the late Heath Ledger.)
As the director of the mega-budget comic book adaptation of “Iron Man,” Favreau has nothing short of an entire studio’s fortunes riding on his shoulders.
Out May 2, the movie, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as a cocky industrialist who fights evil in a high-tech suit of armor, is the first picture from Marvel Studios, and its success or failure could well affect the future of the superhero genre. (The studio will also release “The Incredible Hulk” on June 13.)
Good thing for Favreau, the buzz on “Iron Man” has been positive.
The former comic book and Dungeons & Dragons geek phoned from LA.
Are you surprised so many A-list actors are willing to star in superhero movies these days?
I know with Robert, when I sat down with him for the first time, I asked him what he wanted to do right now in his career. He said, “I want to make movies that I’m proud of that people actually get to see.”
And after doing “Zathura,” it was so heartbreaking to work for so long on a movie and have it get great notices, and then see it never get a chance in theaters. It was heartbreaking, and I think actors feel the same way. They work so hard on a movie, especially a small independent movie or a drama, then those movies just disappear in a puff of smoke. I think the idea of a superhero movie is that people will see it. Then if you do a good job on top of that and make a movie you’re proud of, it can really become a cultural phenomenon. That’s the appeal.
You didn’t have to do any arm-twisting with the rest of the cast?
They were attracted because of Robert. He came on board and he was excited, because he’s a bit of a geek himself. He was ready at this point in his career to do this type of film. Then Gwyneth [Paltrow] and Jeff [Bridges] and Terrence [Howard] all signed on. I think they felt more comfortable because they saw it was Robert and I collaborating.
Non-geeks may not know who Iron Man is. Does that even matter?
I don’t think it matters. There’s enough going on in the movie and enough going on with the cast that people are going to give it a shot regardless of whether they know about it or not. How many people actually rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride before going to see that movie? I think the involvement of Johnny Depp and the way the material was presented was very compelling. We owed it to the fan base to consider what was in the comics and be consistent with it, because it’s Marvel Studio’s first film. But there’s the expression that if everyone who read X-Men [comics] went to the see the “X-Men” movie, it would have only made $25 million worldwide. This is the type of thing where you have to broaden your audience beyond just those who know Iron Man.
Are you worried the summer will be too crowded with superhero movies?
Yeah, of course. How could you not be intimidated? My last time around [directing “Zathura”], my movie evaporated. But I’ve also experienced what happens when you catch the fancy of the culture with “Elf.” So it’s hard to handicap it. You just make the best movie you can, and hopefully this ends up being a successful collaboration on a financial level for Marvel so they can continue to make movies as a studio and we can continue to make Iron Man movies.
You’ve all signed on for three films?
I don’t know what the deals are, but certainly we spoke creatively about what the first three movies would be. I think we’re all into it and would love to do it together. I know Robert is into it. Success from superhero movies doesn’t come from releasing one of them. It becomes about creating and cultivating a franchise.
Have you seen “The Incredible Hulk”?
No, I haven’t seen any of it. Up until three weeks ago, I’ve been busy.
PICKING hIS BRAIN
“I live a boring life. It’s pretty much work and family
right now.”
I got into poker by watching it on TV. I always played poker around the kitchen table with my family back in New York. Gambling for pennies was a big deal. But I didn’t get into no-limit until I started watching the pros play. Then I read a book about it, then I started playing with my friends.
I’ve filed my taxes already. I file quarterly, so that it never gets behind me. One of the nice trappings of having a successful career is that I don’t have to balance my own checkbook and I don’t have to file my own taxes.
As a kid in Forest Hills Queens, I delivered The Post. I didn’t like the job, and I wasn’t very good at collecting. I never turned in enough money, not because I was stealing, but because people always had a good excuse why they didn’t have the $1.50.
Over the course of filming “Iron Man,” I dropped quite a bit of weight. It was a combination of things. I ate six small meals a day, low-calorie diet, meal replacements. I’m about to go around the world, and I’m spending a week in France, so I don’t want to speak prematurely. I might be a food tourist. I hope I don’t put too much of it back on.
I’ve got a hot rod that’s actually in [Iron Man]. It’s a 1932 Ford Flat-Head Roadster. I live in California, and I like to take the kids out one at a time. It’s only a two-seater. I tool along the ocean in that thing. It’s kind of fun, and not something you can do in New York. It’s Tony Stark’s car in the movie that he’s working on. It makes the movie like a home movie.