A Stunned Terrence Howard

Terrence Howard Bounced From Iron Man 2 Gig

The announcement came a couple weeks ago…

Terrence Howard to be replaced by Don Cheadle in upcoming Iron Man sequel.

Now Howard is talking about how it all went down. While speaking with National Public Radio yesterday, the Oscar-nominated Howard said “It was the surprise of a lifetime.” Marvel Studios hasn’t given a reason for swapping Howard for Cheadle, but the Hollywood Reporter says it was due to “financial differences.” Say what?! financial differences? This is a movie that blew it’s production budget out of the water when it comes to making money. How in the world can they have financial differences with an actor already under contract for the reprisal of his role in a sequel?

Face Change Usually Death Blow To Sequels

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man burst onto the big screen in May of this year. It opened on slightly more than 4,100 screens on May 2nd with an opening weekend box office take of $98,618,668. Overall the return of Iron Man to the big screen had a run of 22 weeks, closing on October 2nd. As far as money goes, the flick had a production budget of $140 million dollars. When it closed out of theaters the total worldwide gross was a whopping $576,751,733. Keep in mind, that figure only represents theater ticket sales. It does not include DVD sales, which of course have just started.

Now one would wonder why in the world those connected with such a block buster hit would make a personnel change. After all, as the old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But, for some reason, the studio has decided to oust Terrence Howard and replace him with Don Cheadle. Making matters even worse, Cheadle will play the same character, James “Rhodey” Rhodes in Iron Man 2, whom Howard played in the first Iron Man.

Same character, different face, usually = death blow for sequels.

The true movie buff will quickly notice the problem of having Cheadle reprise the role originally portrayed by Howard. Especially since, Howard’s last line in the first movie was Rhodey looking at a second suit saying, “Maybe next time.” The discerning audience will scream — That’s not Rhodey! — when Iron Man 2 hits the big screen in May of 2010.

Further commenting on the change Howard went on to say;

“There was no explanation, the contract just up and vanished. Apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on sometimes. And promises aren’t kept and good faith negotiations aren’t always held up.”

We may never know what happened behind the scenes of this Marvel maneuver. But one thing is for sure, Don Cheadle is no Terrence Howard and it’s a given that the character of Rhodey will have a definite different feel to it in Iron Man 2. I guess all we can hope for now is that Cheadle’s character of Rhodey on Iron Man 2 will have the same fate as Katie Holmes replacement for her character of Rachel on The Dark Knight.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus