Hi Bryan Here…

Jon Favreau who is best known for his role in Swingers and also as director of the films “Elf”, “Zathura”, and the last two Iron Man films, has decided to turn down the offer to direct Iron Man 3 for Marvel.   Instead he has signed on to direct the big epic film called “The Magic Kingdom” which you can read our earlier coverage of this film HERE.

I sort of knew this was going to happen a while ago.  Right around the time the Iron Man 2 bluray came out to be exact.  In Favreau’s interviews and commentaries on the film, you can hear is dislike and hardships he endured during the production of Iron Man 2 with the studios and Marvel.  They interfered way to much and prohibited Jon from realizing his own vision.  All of this is evident throughout Favreau’s commentary.  The news about this came out a little while ago via Jon’s Twitter page where it said “It’s true, I’m directing Magic Kingdom not Iron Man 3. I’ve had a great run with Marvel and wish them the best.”

In an interview with Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times, Favreau said “find something that lights a fire” inside of him and also something that will “blow people away, which is easier to do with a project that isn’t loaded with built-in expectations.”  As you can tell, Jon is choosing his words very carefully and is being the gentleman.  He is looking at this as more of a graduation onto something rather than  a divorce from Marvel.   But the Magic Kingdom is Disney and Disney now owns Marvel so go figure.

Here are some excerpts from what Mr. Favreau has said.

Marvel and I both came of age together. The years that we shared were a pivotal experience. Kevin has a firm grasp on the many franchises and how they all interweave and I am happy that I had the opportunity to establish the world that these characters can now play in…. ‘Iron Man’ has given me tremendous opportunities and Kevin and I are enjoying a lot of momentum in our careers thanks to the ‘Iron Man’ films. I look forward to seeing what others can do playing in the same world.

Between the theme parks and the movies, the Disney iconography was probably the first set of archetypes that I was exposed to. Walt was able to expose me as a child to the full array of emotions, including fear and sorrow. Those movies and attractions haunted my dreams  and made a deep impression on me as a child. When I first heard about the [‘Magic Kingdom‘ film] project, I was on my way to visit Disneyland with my family. I took notes and had no problem filling a book with all the ideas that this concept offered, even on first blush. Since then, I was lucky enough to be given a tour of Imagineering by Tony Baxter, who knows just about everything there is to know about Disneyland. He pulled original concept art from the archives for me and exposed me to Walt’s original vision.

You cannot blame Jon for wanting to move on and do something different with different characters and story lines.  As of all, his new epic film, “Cowboys and Aliens” will show us all again how truly talented a filmmaker Jon is and what he is capable of.