Chris Evans : Captain America 3

Captain America 3

please tell me this a joke, though coming from Variety, probably not...


http://variety.com/2014/film/news/robert-downey-jr-to-join-captain-ame rica-3-exclusive-1201312229/


Robert Downey Jr. is on the verge of signing on to “Captain America 3,” a move that would bring the Civil War storyline from Marvel’s comicbooks to the bigscreen and trigger the start of a new phase of movies from Marvel Studios.

The actor is in final negotiations to play billionaire Tony Stark in the third installment, which is slated to begin production in the Spring for a May 6, 2016 release. Downey is already set to suit up as Iron Man for next year’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “The Avengers 3.”

The deal is significant for the Marvel cinematic universe considering the plot will pit Stark against Captain America’s alter-ego Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, as they feud over the Superhero Registration Act, which forces anyone with superhuman abilities to reveal their identities to the U.S. government and agree to act as a police force for the authorities.


and they will pay him:


Downey, who earned $50 million for “The Avengers” alone, will collect around $40 million plus backend participation for “Captain America 3,” said sources, and will get an additional payout if “Captain America 3″ outperforms “Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s” $714 million worldwide haul. Since the actor did not appear in the first two “Captain America” films, the thinking is that if the third installment surpasses the last movie, its success could be attributed to Downey.


I guess he will also get first title listed, as he gets in Avengers... so Cap movies completely taken over by RDJ's Iron Man? why? I guess now that all the speculations about Evans not being in Avengers 3 had to do with this if they make this in Cap 3, we know how Civil War ends...



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A complete shocker. This is just huge and it's going to need more superheroes in it if only to take sides.

And yes Civil War most likely ends in a way that he won't be in Avengers 3 which leads into the earlier b68 story of him showing up in the 4th one instead.

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I`m not shocked, I`m so pissed off!!
the Cap franchise is my favorite and though I`m entertained by IM and Avengers, I dislike the disparity in which MCU has RDJ as the star of everything while Hemsworth and Evans both have proven to carry successfully their films and be as much as star as RDJ for the MCU fans, but now we have this: RDJ will take over Cap movies which are Evans`films and then CW will take out Cap of the MCU, and I enjoyed watching Chris play Cap, he made me like that character so much. Ug... I feel like a pissed off disappointed whining fanboy (girl in my case) but I hate what they are doing to the best franchise that MCU had.

editing to add: news 5b4 is so huge that "cap3" is already trending worldwide on twitter!

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http://badassdigest.com/2014/10/13/robert-downey-jr-bringing-civil-war -to-captain-america-3/


I've been sitting on this for a couple of weeks now, waiting to get an ok from my sources to run it... and I got scooped. Well played, Variety.

Well, here's the story: Robert Downey Jr hasn't been negotiating with Marvel for Iron Man 4 - he's been negotiating for Captain America 3. Yes, Iron Man will be co-starring in Cap 3, which is either going to be called Civil War or Fallen Son - I've heard both names getting tossed around.

And this isn't some small bit. This isn't a cameo. Downey will be shooting 30 or 40 days on the film. He's basically co-starring. When Marvel heard that DC moved Batman v Superman off their Cap 3 date they wondered if they had heard the story and knew that Batman versus Superman wasn't going to match up to Captain America versus Iron Man.

I'm not clear on how the Civil War story will play out, since the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't have secret IDs to reveal, but I can tell you this: the fallout of Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to be huge in this movie. There is a lot of destruction in that film. It makes an impact.

More than that, Marvel is looking at Cap 3 as Avengers 2.5. It's going to be another ensemble picture, and it could feature Cap's new team from the end of Age of Ultron. Last I heard (and they haven't shot this scene yet, so it could change) that team is Falcon, War Machine, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow, as well as probably The Vision (although I have been told Black Widow will not be much of a presence in Cap 3). And once again the events of a Captain America movie will reshape the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Remember when I told you Cap wouldn't be in Avengers 3? This is why. At the end of Cap 3 the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be in a tough, dark place, with the heroes scattered and defeated. That will continue through Avengers 3, and it will leave the world open to the threat of Thanos in either Avengers 4 or the big universe-wide team-up movie, whichever comes first.

How closely will Captain America 3 tie in with Avengers 3? I've been told that the Russo Brothers are in talks to direct Avengers 3 and possibly 4. Sources tell me that they're the favorites of Marvel right now and that they are the guys Kevin Feige want to pick up the mantle from Joss Whedon.

This is huge news, and it shows that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to continue to grow and change, and that just when you think you know what they're doing - just when you assume it's Thanos in Avengers 3 - they throw a curveball at you.

How will Civil War play out? I know that at the end of Age of Ultron Tony Stark retires from The Avengers and possibly even from being Iron Man. He feels very responsible for what happened in that film, as the Ultron project was his brainchild. Here's my guess for Cap 3: with that in mind, and aware of the destruction his out of control robot caused, Tony thinks that the Age of Miracles is too unregulated. With the fall of SHIELD there's simply no one keeping tabs on everybody. That scene of Black Widow in front of the Congressional committee in The WInter Soldier was a late addition, and it speaks to this - these super beings are answering to no one. And Tony decides that's wrong. Which brings him into direct conflict with Captain America, who is still leading a team of Avengers. I don't think this will follow the exact outline of the comic book story, but simply take the concept and the beloved Marvel idea of heroes battling.

Does Cap die in this movie? Lik 5b4 e I said, I've heard the title Fallen Son getting tossed around a lot. I've been told that the story is Civil War, but Fallen Son has come from multiple sources as the actual title. That definitely leads me to believe he could buy it at the end. Or maybe his super soldier serum gets depleted? Or maybe he just hangs up the shield, taking on a new name, like Nomad or something. Either way, he's sitting out Avengers 3, allowing Chris Evans to stay in the MCU for one more Avengers movie.

But if Marvel is willing to renegotiate with Downey - he's getting a $40 million payday, plus back end participation - that probably means they'll sit down with Chris Evans to get him back for more movies. Sitting out Avengers 3 gives Evans some needed time off from the character, and could make him decide he likes the checks Marvel keeps writing him.


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wow!! thanks for posting the article!!
I can now confirm I hate Marvel, they pay RDJ $50 millions for both Avengers and will get him for $40 millions in Cap 3, but they will kill off Cap and let go Evans with it.

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They're not letting Chris go and much as I hate hate hate hate to see any Avengers movie with him not in them, and detest the idea of Cap dying, with Cap 3 he'll have made a movie almost every year since he signed in 2010. And he doesn't just shoot the movies but trains for them for months then promotes them - it's been about 8 months every year of just Marvel.

If they have any chance of resigning him they're better off giving him a bit of a break between films so he has time to direct or even star in other movies that aren't a quick shoot.

I don't mind RDJ getting paid - Iron Man's name alone will pay of it and then some. This movie might open to $200m US and make $400m and over $1b WW. I do hope though that Evans is getting a raise and some thing on the back end.

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I see your point! and you are right!
I do wonder why they take from him Cap 3 ... IM had his 3 films, putting RDJ in Cap3 and making it about CW, is not a Cap film, it`s an Avengers film with RDJ getting first title, his show when he promotes for the Marvel films and all that involves RDJ... which is great when it is about him, but Cap was Evans` (as much as he probably doesn`t care and is probably celebrating RDJ taking the spotlight in all the circus press)

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It's still going to be a Cap movie. Think or RDJ having the screen time Scarlett had as Natasha or Fury + Pierce. Marcus & McFeely and The Russos love Cap so I expect them to do him great justice and TWS managed to have lots of supporting characters all done well. As basically Avengers 2.5 this movie will probably all also be longer.

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it's also worth remembering that RDJ has always been supportive of evans' career. i really don't think he would screw him over.

though one should never forget terence howard.

the bright side is, maybe they'll be an iron man 4 with evans co-starring. just a suggestion.

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Eh, Howard screwed himself over. Favreau couldn't stand working with him and I think salary was a way to get rid of him. Note also for all of Howard's whinging that RDJ didn't support his salary dispute in Iron Man II he didn't care that he got paid 15 times what RDJ did for Iron Man 1.

And yes RDJ pressed hard for Evans for the role and was one of the people talking him into it. He also helped him with his anxiety during some of the Avengers promotion and played hardball with Marvel after Avengers to force them into re-negotiating everyone else's salary before he'd sign on for Avengers 2 & 3.

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I never forget terence howard, not because of the actor, who I`m not fond off at all, but we all know how RDJ is... you know, in o 5b4 ne of the SDCC interviews he went to Chris, hugged him and kissed him in front of the cameras, then as he was leaving he said to the group of reporters interview Chris "this is his year, but next time will be mine" then reporters laughed at the joke, but knowing a little about him.. I don`t think he was joking much, RDJ is a great supporter as long as he is still the star, but now....

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I don`t think Marvel would pay RDJ $40 millions plus backends from the box office, so he would be as much as BW was in Cap 2.
BTW, variety confirmed in their article with Chris for cap2, that he doesn`t get backends from the movies... seems odd to me, they pay him so much to one actor, they make aside the actor who is not the most expensive in salary... oh well, I hope Evans will make good use of his moments off Marvel, he deserves to work with more good directors like Bong and also direct more himself.

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BW has a huge role in Cap 2, easily bigger than any other co-star in one of the solo movies except maybe Loki in Thor 1 and he was the main villain.

Marvel only signed RDJ to one movie for Iron Man (a whopping $300,000 or less than he made for 3 episodes of Allie McBeal), so they had to renegotiated and they negotiated profit sharing. This only got really enormous with Avengers and Iron Man III because both films made sooo much money. They learned their lesson with other contracts and then signed people to as long as they could to try and keep down salaries. But many of those have been renegotiated after as well, and no profit sharing but there are bonuses for B.O. milestones. (so much for $500m, then $600m, then $700m etc)

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yeah, but RDJ is the one that renegotiates the most, when the renegotiated for more IM after the first one, he made it count as one film that cameo he did for the Incredible Hulk, which is why there was all the re-negotiation for Avengers 2, and when they agreed for as much money as they did, they also got him for A3.
But it doesn`t matter, I hope this all for the better for Chris and his career.

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meh. i would be happier if evans was in A3 and then they paid him gobs of money for further appearances.

i'm a bi 16d0 t skeptical if any of this will pan out a la civil war. this means that the whole thing will be drawn out until A4. that seems like it will come out circa 2019. RDJ will be 54 by then. i mean, will we start having the whole star trek thing, where they were cracking the geriatric jokes left and right?

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RDJ is in great shape and Tony Stark/Iron Man doesn't require a lot of physicality so I don't think his age will be an issue.

Heck we have Neeson, Denzel and Brosnan just starring in movies kicking ass and they're all in their 60s. Daniel Craig is only in his late 40s but looks older than dirt and he's still Bond. Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves in their 50s are about release action movies.

It's different with older quality actors who are in action films because unlike say Stallone and Arnold they bring a lot more than just physicality to the role.

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the main difference with those movies is that they are set up as films where the protagonist is that age. the matrix movies have infamously aged poorly save for the first, as most people can tell which parts of it are cgi. RDJ is in great shape, but he also looks visibly older than he did in iron man. that, in itself, is not the end-all, be-all, but the main concern is, if people think they can endlessly drag this out, it will become a self-parody.

think charles bronson, lampooned here in the simpsons/the critic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAME2NCkFK4

and star trek, which is more comparable, given that it is a long standing franchise with the same cast. i remember quite vividly the reviews complaining about how the cast was getting too old. i don't believe they were 2000 physically that old, but it was clear that paramount was going to the well once too often.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkyISf_KDLI

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I definitely agree that RDJ should not be in Cap 3. He is too big and it will become his movie. Not only that but any success Cap 3 has will be given to RDJ, instead to Chris and the past success of Cap 2. I also feel the Bucky storyline will be lost in the shuffle. It all sounds perfectly terrible to me. I hope the sources are false and until Marvel confirms it, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

If I only have one ride, I want it to be beautiful.

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exactly!
it is not just the paycheck, but the story ill become about IM, and it is well known that RDJ takes a lot of behind the scenes participation.
Cap 2 was perfect as it was and a great success, due to the great script from the writes, the good directing from the Russo and the great cast the movie had which we can see in all reviews, the most important thing remarked is the great chemistry that they all had with Chris, that is his job it isn`t just playing Cap well, but the fact that he plays his role up to all this co-stars and the result is great.

But now I see news: "RDJ to star in Cap3" well that says it all, the movie hasn`t started filming yet and the media has given the movie to RDJ

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I so agree. I like RDJ but I wished he had stayed out.





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that is a fanart that has been around since the first Avengers film, I guess the news sites are using it now that there will be that plot

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Yeah, looking at he's wearing the CA uniform from TFA.

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I understand your point...
I don`t mind RDJ asking that much because Marvel makes so much money with their movies and toys, etc... that the actors/directors/writers should ask what they deserve, what I find unfair is the fact that he is the only one to charge that much, Marvel might pay 10% of that to the other co-stars, somehow there was a camp that said he renegotiated for his co-stars too but that isn`t true, but then there is not the paycheck, he is the one to fly in private jets to cities they might be filming and helicopters to the set locations, his request go into a kind of extravaganza but it is not the stuff, the fact that RDJ is the star when he is on set, that he influences the material they work with, all that is great if he has the star power, but I also remember watching Mackie in a interview and he was talking about how great it felt to be part of the Cap franchise because when he acted with Chris, he felt like he was co-starring the film with him, he is not the star as much as he plays the character in the title of the film and that is how it translated to the rest, so it is not just for Chris but for the rest of the actors that had a co-star spotlight alongside Chris, it is kind of hijacked by RDJ star power.

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I have no problem with RDJ's salary for any Marvel movie. Of course it's more than one person ever needs but in terms of the business he's in he's worth it for the money he makes for Marvel. Frankly w/o him as Iron Man they never would have been able to sell their company to Disney for 4 billion dollars.

Marvel and Disney are not a Mom & Pop store or a charity concern. It's not as if Marvel and Disney are going to give any of that money they're paying RDJ to charity instead or even willingly pay more to their other cast and crew.

His name added to CAP 3 will bring in hundreds of millions of more dollars. It's not that far off what Daniel Radcliffe got for the last Harry Potters or other stars for potential billion dollar movies. It seems like a lot since Marvel pays their others leads well below the going rate and if it was up to Marvel's penny pinching Ike Permutter they'd still be paying all the leads $300,000 per movie (or less than the stars of Friends were making per episode a decade ago).

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i have no problem with RDJ's salary either--so long as evans gets more. but this is the sort of thing that has ruined friendships in the past. and though i may be romanticizing the situation, i totally think evans is the sort of person who actually wouldn't care if RDJ was paid more than him.

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I do. It's immoral. End of story.

However, I don't blame RDJ. It's just the way it is. It's the world that is insane not the overpaid actors (although let's not forget most actors have to have a second job to pay the bills). We have failed as a species when billions and billions are going into movies and people who dress up and play make believe are paid millions on the same planet on which children are dying of diarrhoea for want of a 5 cent tablet. Ebola has been around for 40 years but drugs companies haven't worked on drugs for it because it's always been confined to countries which wouldn't be a profitable market so they didn't spend money on research. Maybe they will now. I truly believe that if we loose sight of how immoral the world is in this respect then we are utterly lost.

It's not the actors' fault. Or Marvel's. We are all part of it. I just bought an iPad when some child has just died of dysentery in India. Having an awareness of it does restrict my greed though and should temper the behaviour of the most well off too.

This is all leading to a reply to BsM84's comment


This is another reason to love the indies films. They are untarnished by the massive money involved in blockbusters.


Amen to that!! RDJ's salary is justified for the reason's that bethnor and picap have clearly stated and they are right. Within the context. It's just the context that is wrong. These blockbuster movies bring with them the baggage of insane amounts of money and once you enter that world it's going to be sleazy to varying extents. The Marvel series is hugely entertaining and they are amazing films to watch but the 'politics' of them is too big a minefield for me. You don't get this fuss with Snowpiercer! Or Puncture! Much as I loved the Marvel movies if I had to give away all my Marvel DVDs in order to keep my copy of Puncture I'd do it in a heartbeat.

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I agree with you!
the amount of work an effort that I have to put on to get money to finance investigations (I`m in genetics) we speak years ahead warning about a the possible outbreaks and no one cares till a disease is propagating to a first world country. It is insane those people invest $200 millions for a film when an investigation costs less than that... but since this is all superficiality with HW, I prefer to keep it that way, since that is the point I search about the career/life of a HW when I have free time :P

but like you all said, I like indie films for this reason, there is an effort to get that form of art, put together... which is why I want to support Before We Go (for example), though there is a production company behind, it served as a platform to get many people investing in it (chris included) to get a small budget enough to get it done, and then went to a film festival to get some kind of distribution, I like that kind of effort, it seems more realistic than what the studios do, moving so much money for their films, but the money is on the studios so if the actors see the studious will profit on their "star power" for the films, then I don`t see it bad they will take some money from them, I do see it unfair that one actor would get so much more than the actor that is starring the movie and who has been carrying that franchise long before (though I do agree too, with what was said too that Chris might not even care how much RDJ makes)

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while i understand your position, i'm going to play, as the catholics called it, advocatus diaboli.

if you take that position, it seems to me, to be consistent, that you should therefore not support hollywood's products, because the only reason that celebrities can ask for that sort of reimbursement, is because their products generate massive amounts of revenue worldwide.

me personally, for instance, i have never given a red cent to the nfl or any other professional sports organization (or even college).

as for a cure for ebola, that is simply not true. actually, the number of drugs that we have to actually cure viruses can be counted on one hand. as an example, i believe it is you 5b4 r guys across the pond who are demanding full disclosure of data from gilead on oseltamivir because they have reason to think it doesn't work (which may be true). it is highly unlikely that ebola will be where we break this paradigm. we should be investing more in science, but the reason why we don't is because science is hard and it may take awhile before research can have good returns. there are going to be lots of false starts and bad data. things like sports and entertainment are more assured to have rapid and lucrative returns.

it is true that if we had invested money into food infrastructure and education to battle superstition, we would not be in this current mess.

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virus genomes mutate fast, there are several strains from the same virus all at once the variability and mutation rate goes faster than investigation and cure, but the virulence can be seen etc

but yes, those you mentioned are fast money, but when science finds the "cure" of something, the laboratory that developed it or who bought from researchers, becomes soooooo rich. not the researchers, but the companies :P

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I agree with you and it is a lot of what I`ve been saying too, it is not bad that RDJ gets the money that he gets as Chris as well, they are asking for what they know the studio can pay, since it is the studio the one that get their money back in such amounts.
And what the actor do with their money is their issue, not mine!

I do side look at the fact that RDJ negotiates his salary higher than the actor that leads and carries the franchise, in which he is going into, we all know Marvel won`t pay such high amount on both actors, but is is also the same way I side look at the fact that he always self credits that Chris accepted Cap because of his influence or that Marvel looked at Chris because they share publicists or whatever.. it is a backhand in which he is taking a lot of credit for... I also don`t see him in the future being as gracious as Redford who did a great performance and gave a lot of cred to the franchise but didn`t take spotlight from the ones that carry the franchise.

I recon a positive PoV I saw: a lot of people are happy because it shows that Marvel is not putting all their biggest stories just in Avengers, but they by doing it in Cap`s franchise, it actually rises that franchise as well to the level of Avengers and GotG. And it`s a good point too, but I side look a lot at the bts negotiations.

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I think people tend to mistake RDJ for Tony Stark, probably because he plays into that doing publicity and while there are similarities - he's not that man. He's by most all accounts a very generous actor and he's loyal to the people who helped him out and has had close friendships with people he's worked with over the years from James Spader to Richard Attenborough to yes even Mel Gibson.

He lobbied for Paltrow to have more to do in Iron Man 3 (including the end where she gets to be badass and had some fanboys whining that it was at the expense of Tony being a hero) and for Paltrow and Cheadle to be in The Avengers. Even though he directed Iron Man I & II Favreau couldn't get financing for The Chef until RDJ said he'd do a cameo in his movie and went to bat for him the money men and then promoted it like it was his own. He also didn't renegotiate for Avengers 2 & 3 until Marvel renegotiated his co-stars contracts and paid them more.

I think it says something about the man that even when he was going through his worst personal problems, directors and actors still wanted to work with him - not just because of his talent but they liked him as a person.

I don't think RDJ is being self aggrandizing or taking credit for Chris being in the MCU. He's mentioned it in interviews when asked and reiterated how much he's a fan of Chris's work (screening TWS on his Birthday for kids would indicate that it's true) and thought he'd make a great Cap and it would be good for his career and give him more opportunities. He's been a great Marvel ambassador and Renner and Ruffalo also said he talked to them about joining Marvel and been there to help them out.

Chris on RDJ in The Avengers


"Going into it, you're like, who knows? I don't know how this is gonna go," he admitted. "There's a lot of big actors, a lot of big egos, everyone has their own thing going. I can't say enough; it couldn't have gone better. I have high hopes. I hope it's awesome."

In large part, the rave reviews come from his time working with a certain co-star.

"I think most of my stuff is with Downey. He's just so good, man," Evans raved. "Again, I didn't know what to expect about him, either. And he just -- I'm so *beep* lucky. He was so cool. I'm not that great with press sometimes, and he was so like a mentor. He's so willing to give advice and he doesn't feel like, you'll do a take and he gives you a little thumbs up and he just makes your day. You're like, Downey just gave me a thumbs up! That just made my life. I'm like skipping to my trailer, and this guy had no idea the impact he just had.

He's just such a nice guy and he was the first dude -- I've made a lot of movies with a lot of big actors -- the first guy I'd ever been on set, and he comes on set, and it was the first time I was ever like, 'Wow, that's a *beep* movie star. That is a *beep* movie star.'"


Chris seems to adore him and respects him greatly as an actor and is probably happy to be working more with him. He's said if he could direct one person it would be RDJ who would always give him something interesting and make him look good. Since negotiations have been going on for months and Chris had read the script he knew they'd be probably be doing Cap 3 together back at Comic Con and they couldn't have been more friendly.

And because this is so long I'll make it even longer with this great RDJ story I read recently though it happened years ago during his wilder years

http://aliciabessette.com/blog/2011/02/his-name-is-robert-downey-jr-2/




His Name Is Robert Downey Jr.
on February 17th, 2011

Dana Reinhardt is the author of A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life, Harmless and How to Build a House. Her most recent novel, The Things a Brother Knows, was named a best book of the year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist and NPR. The Summer I Learned to Fly, a book that is partially about acts of kindness and very much about gourmet cheese, comes out in July 2011.

********

the kindest of strangers

I’m willing to go out on a limb here and guess that most stories of kindness do not begin with drug addicted celebrity bad boys.

Mine does.

His name is Robert Downey Jr.

Youu00027ec €™ve probably heard of him. You may or may not be a fan, but I am, and I was in the early 90’s when this story takes place.

It was at a garden party for the ACLU of Southern California. My stepmother was the executive director, which is why I was in attendance without having to pay the $150 fee. It’s not that I don’t support the ACLU, it’s that I was barely twenty and had no money to speak of.

I was escorting my grandmother. There isn’t enough room in this essay to explain to you everything she was, I would need volumes, so for the sake of brevity I will tell you that she was beautiful even in her eighties, vain as the day is long, and whip smart, though her particular sort of intelligence did not encompass recognizing young celebrities.

I pointed out Robert Downey Jr. to her when he arrived, in a gorgeous cream-colored linen suit, with Sarah Jessica Parker on his arm. My grandmother shrugged, far more interested in piling her paper plate with various unidentifiable cheeses cut into cubes. He wasn’t Carey Grant or Gregory Peck. What did she care?

The afternoon’s main honoree was Ron Kovic, whose story of his time in the Vietnam War that had left him confined to a wheelchair had recently been immortalized in the Oliver Stone film Born on the Fourth of July.

I mention the wheelchair because it played an unwitting role in what happened next.

We made our way to our folding chairs in the garden with our paper plates and cubed cheeses and we watched my stepmother give one of her eloquent speeches and a plea for donations, and there must have been a few other people who spoke but I can’t remember who, and then Ron Kovic took the podium, and he was mesmerizing, and when it was all over we stood up to leave, and my grandmother tripped.

We’d been sitting in the front row (nepotism has its privileges) and when she tripped she fell smack into the wheelchair ramp that provided Ron Kovic with access to the stage. I didn’t kno b68 w that wheelchair ramps have sharp edges, but they do, at least this one did, and it sliced her shin right open.

The volume of blood was staggering.

I’d like to be able to tell you that I raced into action; that I quickly took control of the situation, tending to my grandmother and calling for the ambulance that was so obviously needed, but I didn’t. I sat down and put my head between my knees because I thought I was going to faint. Did I mention the blood?

Luckily, somebody did take control of the situation, and that person was Robert Downey Jr.

He ordered someone to call an ambulance. Another to bring a glass of water. Another to fetch a blanket. He took off his gorgeous linen jacket and he rolled up his sleeves and he grabbed hold of my grandmother’s leg, and then he took that jacket that I’d assumed he’d taken off only to it keep out of the way, and he tied it around her wound. I watched the cream colored linen turn scarlet with her blood.

He told her not to worry. He told her it would be alright. He knew, instinctively, how to speak to her, how to distract her, how to play to her vanity. He held onto her calf and he whistled. He told her how stunning her legs were.

She said to him, to my humiliation: “My granddaughter tells me you’re a famous actor but I’ve never heard of you.”

He stayed with her until the ambulance came and then he walked alongside the stretcher holding her hand and telling her she was breaking his heart by leaving the party so early, just as they were getting to know each other. He waved to her as they closed the doors. “Don’t forget to call me, Silvia,” he said. “We’ll do lunch.”

He was a movie star, after all.

Believe it or not, I hurried into the ambulance without saying a word. I was too embarrassed and too shy to thank him.

We all have things we wish we’d said. Moments we’d like to return to and do differently. Rarely do we get that chance to make up for those times that words failed us. But I did. Many years later.

I should mention here that when Robert Downey Jr. was in prison for being a drug addict (which strikes me as absurd and cruel, but that’s the topic for a different essay), I thought of writing to him. Of reminding him of that day when he was humanity personified. When he was the best of what we each can be. When he was the kindest of strangers.

But I didn’t.

Some fifteen years after that garden party, ten years after my grandmother had died and five since he’d been released from prison, I saw him in a restaurant.

I grew up in Los Angeles where celebrity sightings are commonplace and where I was raised to respect people’s privacy and never bother someone while they’re out having a meal, but on this day I decided to abandon the code of the native Angeleno, and my 5b4 own shyness, and I approached his table.

I said to him, “I don’t have any idea if you remember this…” and I told him the story.

He remembered.

“I just wanted to thank you,” I said. “And I wanted to tell you that it was simply the kindest act I’ve ever witnessed.”

He stood up and he took both of my hands in his and he looked into my eyes and he said, “You have absolutely no idea how much I needed to hear that today.”

~Dana Reinhardt

Re: Captain America 3

It`s great if RDJ is so awesome, and I find it cute how much Chris respects and praises RDJ (as he respects and praise all his co-stars) all the hugging he gets with RDJ, Ruffalo, Renner, Taylor and Hemsworth is too cute, but I don`t believe in sainthood ;)
now the moment that RDJ is asking for the same amount he is getting as a paycheck, for the lead in the movie he is participating, or I see he gets second billing in the titles of Cap3 (instead of first), I will say "I was so wrong about RDJ, I`m sorry, he is a nice guy" but so far...

Re: Captain America 3

Chris will get first billing. RDJ will get second or an "And Starring RDJ" like Redford and Jackson got. Billing is all about contracts and Chris's contract probably specifies he gets first billing. Rumor has it Scarlett got paid more for TWS than he did (she certainly got paid more for The Avengers as did SLJ) but Chris was still billed above her in both instances.

RDJ is far from a saint but he's not a grasping Machiavellian spot light hogging diva either. The salary is all business and he's negotiating for what he's worth financially to the movie and the studio. There's nothing underhanded or high handed about it. Once Marvel had the upper-hand and underpaid him for Iron Man and now he has the upper hand since Marvel doesn't have him contracted for this movie so they have to negotiate and pay him what he's worth if they want him.

Alas for Evans, Marvel does have him under contract (they learned after RDJ to make these contracts as long as possible) so they don't have to negotiate and pay him what he's worth (though they did a bit after Avengers). If Chris finishes up his 6 film contract and Marvel wants him for more and he's willing to negotiate to come back then they will pay him much much more.

Recently, Marvel was negotiating with Phonenix for Dr. Strange. They were going to pay him more than they do Evans or Hemsworth and his contract would be only 3-4 movies. Why? Negotiating power because of his current star power and worth to a potential franchise. The flip side is Seb Stan getting stuck with a 9 project deal - which probably includes the option to use him on TV,at Birthday Parties or washing Kevin Feige's car. Reason, little to no negotiating power. That's showbiz - or rather just business. :D

Re: Captain America 3

I don`t remember which was the article but I was said that Evans re-negotiates his contract from pair to pair, something about: he signed for 6 movies but the ones he actually signed was for TFA a TA, then he re-negotiated for TWS and when he arranged for that one they got him for AoU as well, from the Marvel offices many said, the only one who actually negotiated to be in Avengers3 is RDJ; the others didn`t and since it was said that his cameo on Thor2 didn`t count as part of his 6 movie deal because he did it as a "favor", da0 since Marvel announced Cap3, people supposed they must had negotiate with him for Avengers 3 too...

I don`t doubt that Scarlett made more than Evans in TWS, because she, like the rest of the Avengers, renegotiated backend from the BO, except for Evans (maybe related to the fact that he might have the 6 movie contract but he re-negotiates before going into production)

I don`t think it is bad for Phoenix to ask a lot of cash on sign for few movies, the studios now are not the same that were negotiating contracts back in 2008 or 2009.
I also don`t judge RDJ for asking that much money, if they can pay them, but I do think it speaks volumes if he asks so much more than the lead and I seriously don`t see him giving his first billing title, but I could be wrong... but then I consider that it was mentioned he asked to have more participation in the film and knowing he does a lot o "creative inputs" in terms os changing important scenes... because Chris, Scarlett, Jackson and Redford worked with the directors adapting dialogues, one of the writers said Chris told them the type of convo Steve & Sam, should have to connect but in no moment they changed scenes, the ones that would change scenes and re-adapt from the script with the writers there, were the Russos or if Feidge asked something... so I don`t think RDJ is a bad person, I just think he is not too caring about what these movies do for his co-star career

but we get IM in another film that didn`t need IM, they were perfect as they were, and not only that but the guy requested more participation... so nice!

Re: Captain America 3

from my standpoint, when i say that RDJ is being himself when i say he is tony stark, is that he's a fast talker, at times glib, given to flippancy, not shy on sarcasm or wit at someone's expense, something of a womanizer, and troubled. which i don't think is mutually exclusive with how you've described RDJ. i don't impugn anything else and i don't feel those things that i've listed are necessarily negative qualities. stark may be more of an egomanic, but frankly, all performers have to have some ego or they couldn't do what they do.

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Re: Captain America 3

Tony saved the day and Pepper in the end helped as did Rhodey. Just like at the end of TWS, Cap saved the day but Natasha, Sam, Fury, Maria Hill etc helped. Being part of a team or having help did not detract from Tony or Steve being heroic or the star of their own movie.

As the Russos and M&M have said all the actors had some input on their characters, how to play a scene, even which scenes to cut, pieces of dialogue and if their character would or wouldn't do or say something. Chris, Scarlett and SLJ all shared heir ideas. That doesn't mean they meddled. It's part of the creative process and seemingly welcomed at Marvel where the director or rather Feige still has the very last word.

Renner said he wasn't interested in coming back to play Hawkeye if his role wasn't more substantial and worth his while (and he's actually under contract) and voila it's more substantial. But if Whedon or Feige didn't want that it wouldn't have happened. Chris thought it would be a fun idea to do a cameo in TDW and pitches it to Feige - and there he is because it fit and it was fantastic. Hemsworth also want to do a cameo in Cap 2 but story-wise it didn't fit so it didn't happen.

From the rumors the Russos, Marcus & McFeely, and Feige obviously wanted him in the movie since they're the ones that put the character in it. That they're the ones that planned for and wrote this storyline. There are no rumors that they didn't want him or preferred that he have less screen time. Reportedly they initially planned for about 3 weeks. That's not a cameo - a cameo is a couple of days, not 15. RDJ was offered it and had other ideas, maybe the role or motivation felt undercooked. Maybe it was initially smaller because Feige etc thought it would be easier to get him to say yes to less of a time commitment but they'd have liked it bigger from the start. Maybe they were thrilled he wanted to do and agreed to do a larger role in a movie where he was not the lead. We don't know.

What we're told from the rumors is that Feige wanted him and that Tony's role and this story has been part of a bigger plan he's wanted for the franchise for years. Feige also want Scarlett in TWS when she wasn't sure if she would fit and had to be convinced. Original drafts for TWS were different in terms of characters used and how much than in the filmed script and the filmed one is fantastic. CA3 has already been re-written, these negotiations have been going on for months and the Russos last month during the DVD launch seemed to be happy as be about CA3 and how it was shaping up. Since they're also rumored to be up for directing Avengers 3 and 4 which are both tied into this then they're in this story arc for the long game.

The ONLY person at Marvel rumored to be upset about a larger role for Tony is Ike and that's because of money. He doesn't care about the story or characters and he has nothing to so with the creative side of the business. He's just notoriously tight fisted.

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Re: Captain America 3

i don't get why ppl keep saying this. what has RDJ done creatively to shaft evans?

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Re: Captain America 3

you're just going to have to take my word for it, ratsom, that WHO is being unreasonable. the governing body is not always right, as the CDC is showing in the US.

there are hundreds of viruses, but the number of drugs which are halfway decent can be counted on one hand. for instance, you can bet your bottoms that millions have been invested in the antivirals for influenza as well as the vaccine, but both are "just okay," and there are serious and reasonable question marks about their efficacy. it's just lunacy to propose that the breakthrough will be with ebola.

part of the problem with most of these viruses is that the immune response is too vigorous. ebola has this in common by causing a "capillary leak," whereby fluids escape the blood vessels through pores, causing low blood pressures and dehydration. people HAVE looked at drugs to "close" the pores--i actually did research in this area! the results of these drugs were disappointing, which is why they never saw the light of day. people have also looked at drugs to disrupt the excessive immune response. there was promise with one, droctrocogen alpha. it was something like $10,000 a pop, but close scrutiny of the promising data has demonstrated that it was all a wash. this is why steroids have been tried in innumerable infections which cause a similar problem and have been disappointing.

infection control is where it's at for the time being, and where our resources should go. i hope for an effective treatment or vaccine, but past experiences with the innumerable more common viruses that we deal with on a day to day basis has me skeptical. there are LOTS of other hemorrhagic viruses, like dengue, (lol, dunno if that makes you feel better. rabies has ~ 10 cousins which are just as lethal, too), and we've tried virus drugs for them, and they have ended in disappointment every time.

/rant

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Re: Captain America 3

I'm pretty unhappy about this as well. Evans deserves better (and more pay). It's his film and now RDJ is "starring" in it as well. W 2000 hy call it Captain America 3 then?
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