Iron Man 3 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iron Man 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shane Black
Produced by	Kevin Feige
Screenplay by	Shane Black Drew Pearce
Starring	Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow Don Cheadle Guy Pearce Rebecca Hall Stéphanie Szostak James Badge Dale William Sadler Miguel Ferrer Jon Favreau Ben Kingsley
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	John Toll
Editing by	Jeffrey Ford Peter S. Elliot
Studio	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date(s)	April 14, 2013 (2013-04-14) (Grand Rex) May 3, 2013 (2013-05-03) (United States)
Running time	131 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$200 million
Money made	$1.215 billion

Iron Man 3 (titled onscreen as Iron Man Three) is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), and the seventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Shane Black from a screenplay he co-wrote with Drew Pearce, and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stéphanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley. In the film, Tony Stark grapples with the consequences of the events of The Avengers (2012) during a national terrorism campaign on the United States led by the mysterious Mandarin.

After the release of Iron Man 2 in May 2010, director Favreau chose not to return for a third film. Black was hired to write and direct the sequel in February 2011, working with Pearce to make the script more character-centric, focus on thriller elements, and use concepts from Warren Ellis's "Extremis" comic book story arc. The film's supporting cast, including Kingsley, Pearce, and Hall, were brought on throughout April and May 2012. Filming took place from May 23 to December 17, 2012, primarily at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina. Additional filming took place around North Carolina as well as in Florida, Los Angeles, and China; an extended version of the film specifically for Chinese audiences was created. Seventeen companies provided the film's visual effects.

Iron Man 3 premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on April 14, 2013, and released in the United States on May 3, as the first film in Phase Two of the MCU. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its action sequences, Black's direction, and Downey's performance, though there was criticism for its portrayal of the Mandarin. The film was a box office success, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2013 and the sixteenth film to gross over $1 billion. It finished its theatrical run as the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, while its opening weekend was the sixth-highest of all time. The film received Best Visual Effects nominations at the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards.

Cast

• Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man:
  An Avenger and a self-described genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist with mechanical suits of armor of his own invention. Stark now struggles to come to terms with his near-death experience in The Avengers, suffering from anxiety attacks.
• Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts:
  Stark's girlfriend, longtime associate, and the current CEO of Stark Industries.
• Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / Iron Patriot:
  Stark's best friend and the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force in the department of acquisitions. Rhodes operates the redesigned/upgraded War Machine armor, taking on an American flag-inspired color scheme similar to the Iron Patriot armor from the comics.
• Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian:
  The creator of the Extremis virus and the founder and owner of the science and development organization Advanced Idea Mechanics who adopts the mantle of the Mandarin as his own. Killian develops Extremis to cure his own debilitating disability; in addition to his regenerative healing qualities, he has superhuman strength and the ability to generate extreme heat. Prolonged exposure to Extremis also grants him the ability to breathe fire.
• Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen:
  A geneticist whose work helped Killian create Extremis.
• Stéphanie Szostak as Ellen Brandt:
  A war veteran who becomes an assassin after her exposure to Extremis.
• James Badge Dale as Eric Savin:
  Killian's Extremis-powered henchman.
• William Sadler as Matthew Ellis: The President of the United States, named after Warren Ellis, who wrote the "Extremis" comics arc that primarily influenced the film's story.
• Miguel Ferrer as Rodriguez: The Vice President of the United States.
• Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan:
  Tony Stark's former bodyguard and chauffeur who now serves as Stark Industries' head of security department.
• Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery:
  A British actor whom Killian hired to portray the Mandarin, a terrorist persona in jammed television broadcasts in which he is depicted as the leader of the international terrorist organization the Ten Rings.

Paul Bettany reprises his role from previous films as J.A.R.V.I.S., Stark's AI system. Ty Simpkins portrays Harley Keener, a child who lives in Rose Hill, Tennessee who assists Stark when the latter breaks into his garage in order to repair his suit. He later helps Stark investigate various incidents associated with the Extremis project, and afterwards he is rewarded by Stark with a garage-full of modern engineering tools and equipment. Simpkins reprises his role as Harley in a cameo in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Simpkins has stated that he has a three-picture deal with Marvel Studios. Ashley Hamilton portrays Taggart, one of the Extremis soldiers. Adam Pally plays Gary, a cameraman who helps Stark. Shaun Toub reprises his role as Yinsen from the first Iron Man film in a brief cameo, and Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a beauty pageant judge. Dale Dickey plays Mrs. Davis, mother of an Extremis subject that is framed as a terrorist. Wang Xueqi briefly plays Dr. Wu in the general release version of the film. A cut of the film produced for release exclusively in China includes additional scenes featuring Wang and an appearance by Fan Bingbing as one of his assistants. Jenna Ortega plays the vice president's daughter. Mark Ruffalo makes an uncredited cameo appearance, reprising his role as Bruce Banner from The Avengers, in a post-credits scene. Comedians Bill Maher and Joan Rivers, and Fashion Police co-host George Kotsiopoulos have cameo appearances as themselves on their respective real-world television programs, as do newscasters Josh Elliott, Megan Henderson, Pat Kiernan, and Thomas Roberts.

Filming

Filming began in Wilmington, North Carolina, on May 23, 2012, at EUE/Screen Gems Studios, with the working title Caged Heat. Cinematographer John Toll opted to work with digital cameras for the first time in his career, as he found them more convenient for a visual effects-heavy production. Toll shot the film primarily on the Arri Alexa camera. From June 4 through June 6, 2012, filming took place in Cary, North Carolina, at the Epic Games headquarters and SAS Institute, with a large Christmas tree set up on the front lawn. A scene was also shot at the Wilmington International Airport. The Port of Wilmington served as a location for the oil tanker in the climactic battle, along with a soundstage recreation of the dock. The crumbling house itself was filmed in a hydraulic-powered giubo platform that could bend and split into two pieces. All the interior footage had practical effects, including debris and explosions, with computer graphics used only to add exteriors and Iron Man's armor.

From July 19 to August 1, 2012, filming took place on Oak Island, North Carolina, to "film aerial drops over the Atlantic Ocean." They were done for the scene where Iron Man rescues the people falling from the Air Force One over Miami, which were originally envisioned done with green screen effects, but were changed to using actual skydivers as second unit director Brian Smrz knew the Red Bull skydiving team. Computer graphics were employed only to add clouds, the destroyed plane and matte paintings of the Florida coastline in the background, replace a stand-in with the Iron Man armor, and some digital compositing to combine different takes of the skydivers together. Filming took place in Rose Hill, North Carolina, in early August 2012, and the town's name was incorporated into the script as the Tennessee city Stark visits. On August 14, actress Dale Dickey said she had been cast in the film, and was currently shooting her scenes. The following day, production was halted when Downey suffered an ankle injury. During the break, Black and Pearce made more script revisions before shooting resumed by August 24.

Cast and crew began arriving in Florida on October 1, to shoot scenes on Dania Beach and around South Florida. That same day, Downey returned to the set after his ankle injury. In early October, scenes were shot at a replica of the Malibu restaurant Neptune's Net, and filming took place on location at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Scenes were shot during the daytime inside the Miami Beach Resort at Miami Beach on October 10 and 11. The production returned to Wilmington in mid-October for additional filming. On November 1, scenes were shot at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Filming in the United States wrapped on November 7 in Wilmington.

Filming began in Beijing, China on December 10. Filming was scheduled to wrap a week later on December 17, 2012. The China filming did not include the main cast and crew. In January 2013, it was reported that a film crew led by Shane Black would begin location scouting in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, India between January 20 and 24. Also in January, Cheadle confirmed that re-shooting was taking place in Manhattan Beach. Shooting also took place on the week of January 23, 2013, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. A major part of the content filmed in the reshoots regarded the Mandarin, with Drew Pearce saying that in early cuts, the character "didn't feel real enough—there wasn't a sense of him being [part of] the real world, mostly because he was just looking down a lens and threatening the world." A report on actual production costs for films from FilmL.A. Inc., indicated a gross budget of $200 million, with a net of $178.4 million for Iron Man 3 after tax incentives from North Carolina and Florida.

Music

The film is scored by Brian Tyler, who signed on in October 2012. According to Tyler, he was approached more for his "thematic" scores such as The Greatest Game Ever Played, Annapolis, and Partition rather than his "modern" action scores such as The Fast and Furious films, with Kevin Feige asking a theme that was recognizable and featured those dramatic tones. To employ the "deeply thematic component with a strong melody," the score employs mostly orchestra sounds. The main theme for Iron Man focuses on horns and trumpets, to be "both a march and anthem." Tyler mentioned that John Williams' work on Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first thing he thought of as an influence, and the cue for the Well of Souls in Raiders influenced the Extremis motif, as Tyler felt it should enhance a spiritual side for having a "technology so advanced that nears magic." Echoing the Mandarin's amalgamated personality, his theme was religious music "that borrows from many cultures," from "Monastic, Gothic, and Christian chants to music from the Middle-East." The score was recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.

Along with Tyler's soundtrack album, Hollywood Records released a concept album inspired by the film, Heroes Fall. It features twelve original alternative rock and indie rock songs, with only one appearing in the film itself, Awolnation's "Some Kind of Joke."

Release

Theatrical

Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in Paris at the film's French premiere at the Grand Rex, April 2013

Iron Man 3 was distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures with the exception of China, where it was released by DMG Entertainment, and Germany and Austria, where it was released by Tele München Group. The Chinese version of the film offers specially prepared bonus footage made exclusively for the Chinese audience. This version features a four-minute longer cut of the film, with a longer scene of Tony meeting Dr. Wu, a scene showing Dr. Wu on the phone with Jarvis as Iron Man is visible on a television screen in front of him, as well as a scene of Dr. Wu preparing to operate on Stark with Fan Bingbing. The extra material also features product placement for various Chinese products.

The film's premiere happened at the Grand Rex in Paris, on April 14, 2013, with Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in attendance. While the UK premiere of the film was originally set for April 17, the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher taking place in that date made the event be pushed to the following day. Downey, Ben Kingsley and Rebecca Hall were present for the advance screening at London's Odeon Leicester Square. The El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles hosted the United States premiere of Iron Man 3 on April 24. The film opened in 46 countries through April 22–24, with the United States release, on 4,253 screens, happening one week later. Regal Cinemas, AMC Theatres and Carmike Cinemas put presale tickets on hold, two weeks before the US premiere. The cinemas were in a contract dispute with Disney, who wished to receive more of the ticket sale profit than they currently did, largely based on the projected premiere-weekend intake Iron Man 3 was expected to have. Carmike was the first to come to terms with Disney. It was later reported that Cinemark Theatres had also stopped selling presale tickets, and Regal Cinemas had removed all marketing material for the film from its locations. On April 25, 2013, Regal, AMC and Disney ended their dispute, which allowed Regal and AMC to proceed with selling presale tickets again.

IMAX screenings began on April 25, 2013, internationally and May 3 in the United States. The film was shown in the 4DX format, featuring strobe lights, tilting seats, blowing wind and fog and odor effects in selected countries. In Japan, the technology opened its first room at the Korona World theater in Nagoya, Japan with the release of the film. Iron Man 3 was the first film released in Phase Two of the MCU.

Home media

Iron Man 3 was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in digital download form on September 3, 2013. This was followed by the film's release on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy, and on demand on September 24, 2013. The home video release includes a Marvel One-Shot short film titled Agent Carter starring Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter from Captain America: The First Avenger. It debuted atop the DVD and Blu-ray charts in the United States, and second in the rental charts behind World War Z. Iron Man 3 has earned more than $82 million in home media sales in the U.S.

The film was also collected in a 13-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", which includes all of the Phase Two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was released on December 8, 2015.

Future

Potential sequel

In March 2013, Black stated that Downey's original contract with Marvel Studios, which expired after the release of Iron Man 3, might be extended in order for the actor to appear in a second Avengers film and at least one more Iron Man film. That April, Cheadle said that Iron Man 3 could be the final film in the series, but acknowledged that he was open to reprise in further Iron Man or other MCU projects. Although Downey said in 2014 that there was no plan for a fourth Iron Man film, he later stated that he was open to reprise his role. After the death of Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame (2019), co-screenwriter Stephen McFeely said, "You would've already had Iron Man 4 if it was any other studio", remarking that it was a bold move by Marvel to kill off the character.

Marvel One-Shot

In February 2014, Marvel released the One-Shot film, All Hail the King, on Thor: The Dark World's home media, featuring Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery. It continues Slattery's story from the end of the film, revealing that the real Mandarin actually exists in the MCU.

Accolades

Images for kids

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  Previsualization of the Mark 42 armor (top) and the completed shot (bottom)