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How Marvel's Risks Paid Off

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Andy Lau Drops Out Of 'Iron Man 3'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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June 25, 2012 9:23 AM
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1 Comment

News

Well, it always seemed like a bit of question mark. Back in April, Asian media was reporting that Andy Lau was in final negotiations to take a role in "Iron Man 3" as a friend of Tony Stark's who works in the tech sector and helps our hero defeat The Mandarin. While the first half of that ties into the already widely known Extremis storyline that is being used for the movie, the second half seemed a bit more dubious considering Marvel went out of there way to say The Mandarin was not the villain in this film (though rumors that he actually is have been cropping up again recently). But in any event, Lau won't be in the film.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 24, 2012 8:02 AM
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0 Comments

News

The power shift in the blockbuster world is starting to drift away from Hollywood. The U.S. still makes the bulk of the product, of course. But particularly for action and science-fiction movies (doubly so for those in 3D), studios rely on overseas grosses, especially in Asian markets like Japan, India, Korea and, most importantly, China, all of which are hungry for tentpole product to make their movies profitable. It's a telling indicator that blockbusters like "Battleship" and "The Avengers" are landing overseas weeks ahead of their debuts in the U.S. And more and more, studio movies are engineered from the ground up to play well abroad as Chinese and Indian companies are increasingly financing large chunks of blockbusters, and international stars crop up in the pictures -- take Japanese actor Tadanobu Osano, who plays essentially the second lead in both "Battleship" and the upcoming "47 Ronin."