(CelebNMusic247-News) Robert Downey Jr. Angles For Major Loot from Disney & Marvel
Now that Iron Man 3 is wrapped and playing at local theaters everywhere Tony Stark aka Robert Downey Jr. prepares to square off against Disney and Marvel over his slice of the pie on “The Avengers 2” and “Iron Man 4.”
Basically its good old-fashioned star power angling for cold hard cash and backend money!
Remember Keanu Reeves worked himself a $99 million dollar deal with backend money for the Matrix saga, so why not go for gold since Iron Man franchise is the center piece for the franchise to continue let alone the charismatic center of its two highest grossing superhero franchises, potentially jeopardizing Disney and Marvel’s plans to continue expanding its comic-book universe beyond Tony Stark and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
But here is what’s being reported:
Disney will continue making Iron Man movies with or without Downey’s participation, but box office analysts agree that they are unlikely to achieve the same record-breaking numbers without his name above the title. That makes him the rare star who can essentially hold a studio hostage to his whims and salary demands.
Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, told TheWrap:
“In today’s age of moviemaking, concept is king, but there are a few performers who are an exception to that and Robert Downey Jr. is on the top of that list.”
“Iron Man is a costume and a man in costume can be replaced, but that said, the franchise without him won’t achieve these kind of heights. I guarantee that.”
In an interesting twist, a Deadline report Tuesday claiming that Downey and Marvel may be far apart on finding a figure hit just as Disney Chairman Bob Iger was buoyantly discussing the company’s bright future on a conference call with investors. According to that report, Downey has already netted about $35 million from “Iron Man 3,” based on its huge global opening, and has pocketed $50 million for “The Avengers.”
Iger enthused, evidently before checking the account of the salary standoff.
“The Avengers franchise is certainly strong today but we have a lot more to come.”
Spokespeople for Downey and Marvel declined to comment, but an individual with knowledge of the talks confirmed to TheWrap that no deal is in place for Downey to reprise his Iron Man role in future films.
Even without a deal for Downey set, Disney plans to release “The Avengers 2” in 2015.
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