Iron Man 1 Was Finished Stressfully Last Minute
2008’s Iron Man launched the MCU but post-production was incredibly stressful, with the final act completed just three weeks before release.
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Incredibly, Iron Man’s final act was finished just three weeks before the film’s release. The modern Marvel Studios is a Hollywood juggernaut, but back in 2008 they were the new kid on the block—raw and untested—and the launch of the MCU was seen as a high-risk gamble. It was a particularly stressful year for Marvel, with the new studio working on two film simultaneously, between Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. That may seem relatively simple to modern viewers, who are used to the MCU churning out a new movie or Disney+ series every few months. This was the first time Marvel had produced something themselves, however, rather than working with an established film studio, and were thus new to the massive process.
Ironically, this allowed Marvel and Disney an opportunity to reinvent the wheel. They quickly chose to make post-production and additional photography a standard part of their process, which at the time was unusual, but has since become the industry standard. The problem with post-production and additional photography, though, is that edits are being made much closer to a film’s release date, and tension levels build. Tara Bennett and Paul Terry recently published a book celebrating the studio’s first decade, entitled The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it reveals just how stressful things became during the post-production of Iron Man.
Iron Man’s climactic final battle between Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) was changed at the last minute, with Marvel realizing the fight’s original concept just didn’t work. There were 3 different versions planned out, and the studio had to choose which ending ILM would bring to life in CGI. Becoming increasingly desperate, they made a DVD rough cut they showed to writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who suggested Stark outsmart Stane by taking advantage of his armor not being configured for high-altitude flight—the ending that obviously made the final cut. Marvel swiftly put together sketches, sending them to ILM, who finished the CGI shots just 3 weeks before the film’s theatrical release.
The account is a remarkable one, especially given Iron Man director Jon Favreau was initially reluctant to use CGI in the first place—rather ironic, given he’s now celebrated for making CGI adaptations of classic Disney movies such as The Lion King. Favreau’s reluctance was in part overcome when he watched Transformers, and realized what was now possible with modern big budget CGI technology. Transformers subtly affected Iron Man’s production, with Favreau encouraging the team to focus on Stark suiting up as Iron Man in an extended sequence; but no doubt these final three weeks tested his faith in this whole film-making approach to the limit.
Marvel had initially expected The Incredible Hulk to be the big hit of 2008 as the character was a much bigger household name prior to the MCU, but it didn’t take them long to notice Iron Man was drawing all the attention. It sometimes pays to be dealing with a new franchise rather than an established property, because viewers have no idea what to expect. Bold casting choices with Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow and more also made the film especially exciting. Everything came together in the end, and all Marvel’s gambles paid off when Iron Man grossed $585.8 million at the global box office, launching the MCU.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/iron-man-movie-final-fight-complete-before-release/