Iron Man 2 In 2010

At the Hollywood premiere of Iron Man, Viacom/CBS Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone and Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey told Entertainment Tonight that if the movie does as well as expected, Paramount will greenlight a sequel for the same week in 2010. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader already holds claim to the "first weekend of the summer" (May 7, 2010), but Iron Man 2 could easily open a week earlier on Friday, April 30th 2010 if all goes well.

Also Downey's trainer, Brad Bose, told IESB that he starts training with Downey just after this final premiere in Los Angeles, stating that he will have Downey ready to wear the suit again in just 5 months. Sounds to me like the contracts are all but signed, and everyone is ready to go.

The studio is telling people they would be happy with anything higher than $70 million. /Film Box Office Analyst Steve Mason is predicting $102 million for Thursday through Sunday. So unless something goes terribly wrong at the box office this weekend, expect Iron Man 2 to go into production in early 2009.