Robert Downey Jr.'s future in the Marvel Universe may be in doubt, but that's not stopping him from starting work on a new project. And for his next movie, he'll be teaming up with Jon Favreau, his colleague on the three "Iron Man" pictures.
Downey has signed on for the lead
role in "Chef," an independent comedy to be directed by Favreau, who has
also written the screenplay and will co-star. In the movie, Downey will
play a chef at an upscale restaurant who loses his job and has a
falling out with his family. The chef starts over by starting a food
truck, and tries to heal his relationship with his family as he puts his
career back on track.
For Favreau, "Chef" represents
something of a return to his roots – he enjoyed a major career
breakthrough with the 1996 with the indie comedy "Swingers," which he
co-wrote as well as playing the lead, and he directed the comedies
"Made" and "Elf" before hitting pay dirt as a filmmaker with "Iron Man"
and "Iron Man 2." Favreau also played Happy Hogan, Tony Stark's
bodyguard, in all three "Iron Man" movies, so he and Downey have plenty
of experience bantering on screen.
Downey, meanwhile, has expressed
an interest in doing smaller, independent projects in between superhero
vehicles, and "Chef" will give him a chance to do just that. It should
also give him a fun way to occupy himself while he continues
negotiations with Marvel Studios; Downey's contact with Marvel was
concluded with "Iron Man 3," and gossip has it that Downey is willing to
return to play Tony Stark in future projects, but only if the money is
right. Given Marvel's well-documented reluctance to part with a dollar,
it's an open question if he'll be in "The Avengers 2" or "Iron Man 4."
(Though since "Iron Man 3" is currently on track to a worldwide gross of
over a billion dollars within the next few weeks, giving Downey another
few million would seem like a safe investment.)
"Chef" will also star Sofia
Vergara, John Leguizamo, and Bobby Cannavale, and is being financed by
Aldamisa Entertainment in partnership with Kilburn Media. No studio is
currently attached to release the picture, but given the talent on
board, getting someone to pick up the picture should be no problem at
all. LINK
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