Iron Man 3 is the 16th film to cross that threshold, with the other fifteen being:

• Ladybugs
• Monkeybone
• Goodburger
• Spy Kids 3
• All five of the Resident Evil Movies
• Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
• Air Bud: Golden Receiver
• Take This Waltz
• Picture Perfect
• JCVD
• Major League 3: Back to the Minors

I can’t believe I was able to rattle off that whole list just from memory.

Empire Magazine sat down with director Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce to discuss Iron Man 3 in their latest podcast, which is SPOILER-HEAVY, and some interesting bits came to light. Apparently tired of freaky Wonder Woman sex, Pepper Potts strayed from Tony Stark’s bed and the result was caught on tape. Says Black:

“Pepper, in one draft, slept with [Aldrich] Killian because he was so pheromonially enhanced with this extremis that she couldn’t resist him and she was angry with Tony and so she sleeps with Killian and then he makes a sex tape and broadcasts it in Home Depot.”

That tyrant! Using Home Depot to besmirch Pepper’s reputation would make her look like a total whore in the eyes of migrant workers and women who want new cabinets. Is his evil boundless?

While it’s one of the most beloved and successful superhero franchises of all time, Iron Man isn’t above reproach, if only because superhero movies, no matter how good, are a little unoriginal, and tend to get a few things wrong in their attempts at greatness and grandeur.

Sorry, RDJ. You’re not perfect. You’re just very, very good.

But we’re still gonna pick out all your shortcomings in this video. Because we’re jerks like that.

Tony Stark, however, is not one to be outdone. In this clip from Iron Man 3, he displays perhaps the most impressive helicopter slaughter yet — killing it with a rocket-propelled piano. Here, writer/director Shane Black proves he still knows his way around action. It’s like a super-powered version the surfboard scene from Lethal Weapon 2, proving that writer/director Shane Black still knows how to craft a memorable action scene. Your move, The Expendables 3.

My favorite parts:

- Stark firing his glove as a gun while also firing an actual gun

- Gwyneth Paltrow hanging out around explosions in a sports bra

- The Mandarin talking like Toby Radloff from American Splendor

- Iron Man‘s army
May 4th!

Now that some time has passed and we’ve had a chance to look back, we’d like to pick the fresh scab on 2012 and crown its best and worst moments. Thus, the Screen Junkies Awards!

Today we’re taking a look at the best movie trailers of 2012. These are the previews that either thrilled us, shocked us, made us laugh, or weren’t the trailer for <em>Battleship</em>. The quality of these movies are up for debate, but their trailers are awesome and no one can take that away. Except for us if we decide to subject them to the Honest Trailers treatment.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Sometimes a so-so film yields a great trailer. I’m sorry to say that in this case. I wanted Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to be the best, most over-the-top, kick ass movie experience but the movie itself fell a little bit short. Then again, how can a film possibly live up to a trailer this good? Dude houses that tree!

Man Of Steel

Whether it’s a bird or a plane or a man, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot up in the air with Man Of Steel. We all want it to be great and if this trailer is any indication, it will be. Warner Bros just announced that if Man Of Steel is well-received, they’ll move forward with plans for the oft-delayed Justice League. No pressure, Zack Snyder. Stick to the basics — super-powered guys beating the tar out of each other in ridiculously unexpected and elaborate ways.

Pacific Rim

The morning that the trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim premiered, an audible “F*CK YEAH!!!” could be heard across the land. That was the sound made when thousands viewed gigantic robots using elbow rocket boosters to better punch enormous monsters in the face. Take that, Apocalypse!

Prometheus

It’s an AMAZING trailer. I STILL want to see the movie that it’s advertising.

Iron Man 3

When the trailer for the Shane Black-directed Iron Man 3 premiered, I pointed out that it looks awesome but also suspiciously like Lethal Weapon 2. The sequel seems to center around a wise-cracking hero struggling to protect his loved ones who also has his sweet, oceanfront home destroyed by a foreign enemy before being thrown to the bottom of the ocean. If only they got Joe Pesci in the film. He could replace Coulson.

Ted

Seth MacFarlane‘s transition to the big screen was a humongous success thanks mostly to this red band trailer. We always knew that Family Guy would be funnier with cursing. Awesomely harsh and abrasive New England-style cursing.

Star Trek Into Darkness

This trailer does its job and does it well. That job being to make everyone want to see the movie without revealing too much about the movie. Seriously, though. What the Hell is this movie about?

THEN he meets up with Melissa McCarthy, Jason Bateman, T.I. and Genesis Rodriquez to discuss their new movie, Identity Thief, and get their best Osama bin Laden impressions.

His most dangerous enemy, The Mandarin, reveals himself and makes things personal by destroying his pussy palace. Just like when those South Africans destroyed Rigg’s sweet oceanfront trailer in Lethal Weapon 2. Shane Black, we see what you’re doing here.

• Iron Man posing in new armor
• Helicopters
• Gwyneth Paltrow taking a dump
• The back of Ben Kingsley‘s head

Not exactly riveting (though it is refreshing to see the sequel acknowledge that everybody poops). So, instead of posting the short tease, I’m posting the new poster and photos that show far more. Including a good look at Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. You see the front of his face and everything. (EW)

Also of interest is the news that those incredibly popular post-credits scenes are also going to continue. It wasn’t clear if this means that The Avengers will feature a teaser for Iron Man 3, or something else entirely. It’ll be nice to be surprised, right? Anyway, assuming The Avengers is the blockbuster everyone knows it will be, this will all culminate in a sequel to The Avengers, after which I’m sure they’ll just pack everything up in the interest of maintaining a high standard of quality. Ha ha, just kidding. (FirstShowing.net)

There are a couple different reasons being speculated as to why Black, a proven screenwriter, would need a partner to write a movie he’s directing. One is that Black is a notorious potty-mouth who needs someone like Pearce to help keep it PG-13. Man, I was hoping for an Iron Man movie that features naughty words like h*ck and d*rn. There will probably still be a lot of violence, though. (CinemaBlend)

The movie has a release date of May 3, 2013, so the clock is running on Pearce, who Deadline reports will be working from scratch with director Shane Black. Other than that, not much else is known about the project. No villains or exotic locales have been named yet, but I’m sure the fanboys on the Internet will make their opinion known. There’s still still time, guys. COMMENT!

Today, we know a little more about the film thanks to a tipster at AICN. Black gave up some info about Iron Man‘s next go-round yesterday at the Omaha Film Festival.

“[Shane Black] is scheduled to meet with Robert Downey Jr. this week when he returns to L.A. Downey will be contributing to the story and Shane will be writing it in addition to directing.

The studio was not happy with the direction Iron Man 2 took. Iron Man 3 will not be another ‘two men in iron suits fighting each other’ film. Instead, it will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villians.

Iron Man 3 will be made after The Avengers and will not feature any other heroes from the Marvel Universe. Marvel is only doing crossover characters to lead up to The Avengers, and once that film is released, the plan is to go back to self-containted single-character stories.”

I’ll believe that Marvel wasn’t happy with the results of Iron Man 2, but I don’t really believe these other updates. The good news is that Black is writing the movie. Which means they’ll probably be pole-dancing. However, eight-year olds wouldn’t flock to see these films without laser-whips and iron guys beating on one another or shoe-horned Hawkeye cameos. I, also, can’t imagine that these “real world villains” would sell too many toys. Unless, of course, their action figures are inexplicably dressed in iron suits. OOOO, maybe camouflaged iron suits.

Not to worry, Hoopertarians. The acclaimed director is considering a different big project: a new film version of the hit Broadway musical Les Miserables. It’s not just a poster in you high school music teacher’s classroom. Les Mis is a not-a-laugh-a-minute show about an ex-convict and other French folks who do a lot of struggling in the 1800s. Judging from the time period alone, it seems more like Hooper’s thing. (Collider, 24 Frames)

Speaking of writing, there isn’t yet a writer set to script Iron Man 3, and Marvel is keeping their lips locked. Seems like Black would be the perfect choice considering he knows more about scripting action than directing it. After all, he did write The Last Boyscout and those tiny Lethal Weapon movies. I’m guessing Marvel hires him to tackle the Iron Man 3 script as well. The franchise could really do with a good catchphrase. (Deadline)

Seems like #3 in these Marvel trilogies is the easiest to screw up (see Spider-Man 3, X-Men 3, or better yet – don’t), but Black is a strong candidate. He’s worked well with Robert Downey Jr. before. My thinking is that if you can direct a guy getting his ass kicked in real life, you can direct a CG guy in a CG suit getting his ass kicked in CG. The scale of an Iron Man movie is super-huge, but if Darren Aronofsky can direct Wolverine, then Black should have no trouble handling a few iron dudes.

These are just talks, so who knows how they’ll pan out. Also, Black may have just accidentally stumbled into Marvel’s offices to avoid the police, and kinda improvised his way through the pitch. (Collider)

Jon Favreau has just informed Marvel that he won’t be returning to direct the third Iron Man film. It’s not known if his bowing out was due to financial, creative, or craft service preference differences. It could be that stingy Marvel was unwilling to pay Favreau a likely salary upwards of $12 million plus back end points. It could also be that Favreau was unwilling to turn Iron Man 3 into an extended trailer for the upcoming Avengers movie by cramming every superhero into it except Kitchen Sink-man. He’s a silly hero anyway.

Marvel began the process of looking for a new director last night. Unfortunately for the studio though, Robert Downey Jr. has to give final approval and I’m hoping against hope that McG is on his shitlist. Regardless of who signs on, I’m sure Marvel will lube up their decision hole and tightly pack their creative “suggestions” so far in it that they won’t be able to discern their directorial vision from the studio’s vision. I pray for thee. (Vulture)

Robert Downey, Jr. is cool with the news that Disney will release his next Iron Man movie. Disney is exercising their control of Marvel to release Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. At a press conference for his latest film, Due Date, Downey was enthusiastic about the Marvel developments.

“Love it!” Downey exclaimed. “What’s that mean?”

More after the jump…

After the explanation that Disney would indeed distribute Iron Man 3, Downey gave a real answer. “Well, you know what? I really loved our relationship with Paramount, but to me the main thing is I don’t care about any of that. They’re going to make all those movies. I just want to make a great movie.”

And then, being Robert Downey Jr., he brought it back on message. “Thanks to my tutelage under two guys who know how to play with power, Zach [Galifianakis] and Todd [Phillips], I know exactly what to do with Iron Man 3… That was almost mad with power.”

First up, Downey is shooting Sherlock Holmes 2, which he just touched on as he left. “Sequels are always tough but we’ve got a great group. We’re three weeks in and it’s already fantastic.”

During the press conference, Downey revealed a bit of his process. He just plays the director of each movie he’s working on. That means Guy Ritchie too. “Guy Ritchie, yes. Yeah, Guy in a way a bit more of the British smart fighter type thing.”

More on Due Date coming soon on Screen Junkies.

Iron Man 2 has been in theaters for less than a week, but that didn’t stop director Jon Favreau from speculating on the villain for Iron Man 3. And if Favreau has his way, Tony Stark will be taking on The Mandarin in the next installment of the popular franchise.

"You’ve got to do The Mandarin", says the director, who has been teasing this in the films already with tiny references to the Ten Ring organization, "but the problem is, the way he’s depicted in the comic books… you don’t want to see that."

The "problem" Favreau is referring to is the fact that the character, an evil descendant of Genghis Khan, has been criticized for being nothing more than a negative Asian stereotype. However, I have no doubt that Hollywood can work around this problem, changing the The Mandarin to a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant businessman hellbent on oppressing minorities and destroying the environment, while still maintaining the essence of the character.

However, since Tony Stark is set to appear in the upcoming Avengers film, work on Iron Man 3 will have to wait until at least 2012. And if my sources inside the government are correct, by that time Hollywood will have already been destroyed in a limited nuclear exchange with the Chinese, making concern about The Mandarin a moot point. (Empire)