http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=24012
QUINT: That you're praying to God is going to turn into Brandon Routh or Hugh Jackman...
JON FAVREAU: That's right. I don't have that kind of eye like Bryan Singer, where I trust my instincts so much that I'll let a guy carry a movie. So, you're looking for people with a body of work who has got experience. If you're looking for somebody in their 30s you're going to find people who have done a lot of work... and somebody hasn't totally hit yet or never really got the chance to anchor a movie of this size. So, that's what we're exploring now. People with a body of work who might be a great actor, but aren't necessarily viewed by the studios as though they sort of make a movie happen.
QUINT: So, which Stark are you portraying? The mean drunk or the desperately ill or...
JON FAVREAU: I think it starts off as the oblivious arms manufacturer who gets a huge dose of reality when he's taken into captivity and he's a hostage in Afghanistan. I think he starts to understand the ramifications of the way he's been living his wife when he's exposed to that degree of reality and try to play that as real as possible. And, of course, we're going to really explore the injury and how that affects you, not knowin'... Well, it depends how far you go with it. There are certain story lines in the books where he doesn't know if any given day is going to be his last because of this Sword of Damocles hanging over him. And then sometimes you totally forget the fact that he's got a piece of shrapnel workin' its way towards his aorta. So, we'll have to find the right balance with that.
QUINT: So, I saw the poster... Red and Gold for the suit, yeah?
JON FAVREAU: Yeah, Red and Gold. We're going to start with the Grey and then we're going with the Red and Gold. I think we're going to go circular chest piece and we're definitely inspired by the Adi Granov stuff and he's actually working on the suit design with us.
QUINT: So, when you say "start with the grey," you don't mean a grey version of the Red and Gold suit, but the big, clunky dome thing, right?
JON FAVREAU: Yeah. We're going to go low-tech. We're going to have to believe that he built it in captivity.
QUINT: Will it look like his first appearance suit?
JON FAVREAU: Well, it's a... it's a... Look. It's going to be so hard... Just the idea that they just sort of brush over in the books, which is... instead of building a bomb, "While I was pretending to build a bomb, I built this war suit, this tech-armor." It's like, "What kind of bomb were you building that looked like that? With eye slits on it and arms." And then they snapped it together at the last minute. So, I think you gotta go pretty low-tech to help swallow that jagged pill.
QUINT: Are you going to go for a CGI/practical mix ?
JON FAVREAU: Mostly CG, I think.
QUINT: So, a kind of inverse on what you did with ZATHURA, where you had mostly practical with some CG...
JON FAVREAU: That's right. I think you gotta do Iron Man CG most of the time, but with that in mind, you have to do everything else practical. You have to treat the camera as if you're shooting something real. I think if you look at KING KONG... I mean, I really believe what they were able to do with KONG and he was completely, 100% virtual. Because it has to do with the way the performance capture was done, it has to do with the way it was covered, it has to do with the use of mid-ground miniatures and practical plates and that's what helped sell it.
QUINT: I think it might be more of a tough time bring Iron Man to life, since he doesn't have eyes. Kong's expressions and eyes made him the real character to me.
JON FAVREAU: But the surfaces will read as true and the suit will read as real. It's much easier to show something inorganic in CG than it is with something with fur or skin or even a man in tights. If there's any character the lends himself to doing it CG it would be a robotic suit, it would be Iron Man.
QUINT: Is The Mandarin the only villain? Are you doing a one villain/one hero film?
JON FAVREAU: Ahh... sort of... (laughs).
QUINT: Supporting characters?
JON FAVREAU: Rhodey (James Rhodes), Pepper Potts, Obadiah Stane... those are the core. I think that there's mixtures and fusions of things, but that's what it is. A lot of homework is being done and there will definitely be some layers in there for people who are fans of the books.
QUINT: What's going on with JOHN CARTER OF MARS?
JON FAVREAU: I want it to be next. I just visited (Edgar Rice Burroughs') grandson and showed all the art work to him and they loved what we were doing. The fact that (IRON MAN) is a Paramount project and (JOHN CARTER) is a Paramount project, I'm really hoping I can sort of segue right from one into the other.
QUINT: IRON MAN might make a good step between ZATHURA and JOHN CARTER.
JON FAVREAU: I think it is. We'll see how much they want to do IRON MAN 2! Let's see how excited they get about Carter because I would do more of these, you know, but I really... You know, Carter has really turned into a labor of love. I really have grown to love that character and that franchise and I think we really broke the story and the visuals, so I'm ready to make that one.
QUINT: That you're praying to God is going to turn into Brandon Routh or Hugh Jackman...
JON FAVREAU: That's right. I don't have that kind of eye like Bryan Singer, where I trust my instincts so much that I'll let a guy carry a movie. So, you're looking for people with a body of work who has got experience. If you're looking for somebody in their 30s you're going to find people who have done a lot of work... and somebody hasn't totally hit yet or never really got the chance to anchor a movie of this size. So, that's what we're exploring now. People with a body of work who might be a great actor, but aren't necessarily viewed by the studios as though they sort of make a movie happen.
QUINT: So, which Stark are you portraying? The mean drunk or the desperately ill or...
JON FAVREAU: I think it starts off as the oblivious arms manufacturer who gets a huge dose of reality when he's taken into captivity and he's a hostage in Afghanistan. I think he starts to understand the ramifications of the way he's been living his wife when he's exposed to that degree of reality and try to play that as real as possible. And, of course, we're going to really explore the injury and how that affects you, not knowin'... Well, it depends how far you go with it. There are certain story lines in the books where he doesn't know if any given day is going to be his last because of this Sword of Damocles hanging over him. And then sometimes you totally forget the fact that he's got a piece of shrapnel workin' its way towards his aorta. So, we'll have to find the right balance with that.
QUINT: So, I saw the poster... Red and Gold for the suit, yeah?
JON FAVREAU: Yeah, Red and Gold. We're going to start with the Grey and then we're going with the Red and Gold. I think we're going to go circular chest piece and we're definitely inspired by the Adi Granov stuff and he's actually working on the suit design with us.
QUINT: So, when you say "start with the grey," you don't mean a grey version of the Red and Gold suit, but the big, clunky dome thing, right?
JON FAVREAU: Yeah. We're going to go low-tech. We're going to have to believe that he built it in captivity.
QUINT: Will it look like his first appearance suit?
JON FAVREAU: Well, it's a... it's a... Look. It's going to be so hard... Just the idea that they just sort of brush over in the books, which is... instead of building a bomb, "While I was pretending to build a bomb, I built this war suit, this tech-armor." It's like, "What kind of bomb were you building that looked like that? With eye slits on it and arms." And then they snapped it together at the last minute. So, I think you gotta go pretty low-tech to help swallow that jagged pill.
QUINT: Are you going to go for a CGI/practical mix ?
JON FAVREAU: Mostly CG, I think.
QUINT: So, a kind of inverse on what you did with ZATHURA, where you had mostly practical with some CG...
JON FAVREAU: That's right. I think you gotta do Iron Man CG most of the time, but with that in mind, you have to do everything else practical. You have to treat the camera as if you're shooting something real. I think if you look at KING KONG... I mean, I really believe what they were able to do with KONG and he was completely, 100% virtual. Because it has to do with the way the performance capture was done, it has to do with the way it was covered, it has to do with the use of mid-ground miniatures and practical plates and that's what helped sell it.
QUINT: I think it might be more of a tough time bring Iron Man to life, since he doesn't have eyes. Kong's expressions and eyes made him the real character to me.
JON FAVREAU: But the surfaces will read as true and the suit will read as real. It's much easier to show something inorganic in CG than it is with something with fur or skin or even a man in tights. If there's any character the lends himself to doing it CG it would be a robotic suit, it would be Iron Man.
QUINT: Is The Mandarin the only villain? Are you doing a one villain/one hero film?
JON FAVREAU: Ahh... sort of... (laughs).
QUINT: Supporting characters?
JON FAVREAU: Rhodey (James Rhodes), Pepper Potts, Obadiah Stane... those are the core. I think that there's mixtures and fusions of things, but that's what it is. A lot of homework is being done and there will definitely be some layers in there for people who are fans of the books.
QUINT: What's going on with JOHN CARTER OF MARS?
JON FAVREAU: I want it to be next. I just visited (Edgar Rice Burroughs') grandson and showed all the art work to him and they loved what we were doing. The fact that (IRON MAN) is a Paramount project and (JOHN CARTER) is a Paramount project, I'm really hoping I can sort of segue right from one into the other.
QUINT: IRON MAN might make a good step between ZATHURA and JOHN CARTER.
JON FAVREAU: I think it is. We'll see how much they want to do IRON MAN 2! Let's see how excited they get about Carter because I would do more of these, you know, but I really... You know, Carter has really turned into a labor of love. I really have grown to love that character and that franchise and I think we really broke the story and the visuals, so I'm ready to make that one.
