2009 most earnings in Hollywood; Daredevil reboot; Captain America villain; Iron Man 2 timeline

2009 EARNINGS IN HOLLYWOOD
Now that the 2010 year is a month in, all the 2009’s lists will come out determining the sexiest and richest of the previous year. Vanity Fair released a list of the top 40 money-makers in Hollywood in 2009. This includes actors, producers, directors, and writers. There are a few of these individuals who have been part of comic book based films. Although these films aren’t the main income source for them in 2009 specifically, they are still receiving royalties of previous films, which includes comic book movies. For the full list, go HERE. The following list only mentions the individuals who have worked in comic book films.

1- Michael Bay: $125 million in ’09 (director of Transformers 1 & 2 – although this franchise started as an animated series, it has been translated to comics since its beginnings)
2- Steven Spielberg: $85 million in ’09 (executive producer Transformers 1 & 2)
9- J.J. Abrams: $36 million in ‘09 (director and producer for Star Trek – much like Transformers, it’s not a franchise that originated as a comic book, but has been adapted throughout its history)
17- Nicolas Cage: $28 million in ’09 (Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider – although this film was in 2007, the actor’s earnings in ’09 are royalties from older projects)
28- Robert Downey, Jr.: $22 million in ’09 (Tony Stark in Iron Man – most of RDJ’s earnings are for the filming of the sequel)
32- Angelina Jolie: $21 million in ’09 (Fox in Wanted)
35- Robert Pattinson: $18 million in ‘09 (Edward Cullen in Twilight films – the Twilight series will be adapted into a comic book, as already reported here)
37- Kristen Stewart: $16 million in ‘09 (Bella Swan in Twilight films)
39- Shia LaBoeuf: $15 million in ‘09 (Sam Witwicky in Transformers 1 & 2)

DAREDEVIL REBOOT IN THE WORKS
The deals that Marvel signed with film studios in the past say that if a certain amount of years pass before another film is made concerning the character(s), the film rights would revert back to Marvel. With comic book films being money-making monsters, it’s normal that these studios want to hold on to those rights as long as they can make a big profit. Recently, it was said that Disney wants to take back all the rights under Marvel/Disney. It seems as though Fox Studios might not be interested in complying; at least not yet. Deadline Hollywood reports that Fox Studios has begun the process of a Daredevil reboot, hiring writer David Scarpa for the screenplay and Fox News Corp. executive Peter Chernin as producer. Ben Affleck, who played Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the 2003 film, said he has no interest in returning for the role. I guess we should be thankful for small mercies. There is word that Fox also wants to reboot the Fantastic Four franchise as well, but there is still no word on that front as of now.

FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA’S VILLAIN
When it came to the Captain America live action film, to be directed by Joe Johnston, it wasn’t a question of who will the villain be, but more when will they announce it. The time has come, and during a press conference for his latest movie, The Wolfman, Johnston confirmed that the villain will be the Red Skull. He also told Ryan Rotten of ShockTillYouDrop.com why he chose to have the film set in WWII.

Courtesy of SuperHeroHype.com:
"Virtually the entire story except the bookends are in World War II because we all recognize we have one chance to tell the origin story of how he became Captain America, you can't tell a modern story and then go back and tell the origin story. If you're going to do it, let's do it. Let's do it first. Everyone wanted to tell an origin story. There was a version where it was a modern story and it didn't work."

IRON MAN 2 SET BEFORE THE INCREDIBLE HULK?
A small mention should be made concerning the continuity of the Iron Man films. For those that aren’t already aware, Marvel Studios is in the process of putting together their Avengers film franchise. It all begins with the respective members’ own origin stories before the big team-up movie. So far, there has been Iron Man starring Robert Downey, Jr. and The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton. According to ComicBookMovie.com, Iron Man director Jon Favreau was asked on his Twitter where Iron Man 2 takes place in the chronology, before or after The Incredible Hulk? He answered before. So it should be important to remember when you go watch the movie, that although it is released two years after the Hulk film, it takes place before it in the timeline.