Los Angeles Times
• Robert Downey Jr. may not be hanging up his Iron Man suit anytime soon. The actor recently told Entertainment Weekly that he would consider making a fourth Iron Man movie, depending on what Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures can come up with. "It's down to Kevin [Feige, Marvel Studios president,] and Ike [Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment,] and Disney to come to us with what the proposal is, and that's on us to agree or disagree," Downey said. "When things are going great, there's a lot of agreement." Downey helped kick-start the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the first Iron Man movie in 2008 and followed it up with two direct sequels and the superhero team-up The Avengers. Those four movies have grossed $3.9 billion and made Downey the highest-paid actor. While Downey is set to don the hero's armor again in Avengers: Age of Ultron and a third Avengers film, he has yet to commit to anything beyond that. According to the EW interview, though, Downey likes being box-office champ. "It's that thing of: Why give up the belt when it feels like you can barely get jabbed?" he said, adding the caveat, "Most people are saying that right when they get knocked out."
• Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are set to transform the 1980s cult TV show Manimal into a big-screen action-comedy. According to a Deadline report, Ferrell and McKay have been enlisted by Sony Pictures Animation to produce its hybrid live-action/animated movie based on the short-lived series about a handsome doctor who has the ability to morph into any animal he chooses and who uses his powers to fight crime. Released by NBC in 1983, Manimal was immediately skewered for its cheesy effects and campy vibe -- and the fact that the good doctor rarely turned into anything other than a panther or hawk. It was canceled after just eight episodes. McKay and Ferrell's earlier collaborations include the Anchorman films, Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. A director for Manimal has yet to be named, but Jay Martel and Ian Roberts (executive producers on TV's Key & Peele) are writing the script. Jimmy Miller of Mosaic and Glen A. Larson, who created the original series, are producing with Ferrell and McKay.
A Section on 07/25/2014