Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a division of Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today that it has come on board as the principle visual effects house on the new Marvel Studios production of Iron Man. Sister company Skywalker Sound, which houses EFILM's northern California outpost, completes the post production triumvirate. Skywalker Sound will handle sound design and mix duties for the film.
Marvel Studios' big screen adaptation of Marvel's legendary Super Hero Iron Man, will launch into theaters on May 2, 2008. Oscar ® nominee Robert Downey, Jr. stars as Tony Stark/ Iron Man in the story of a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implication, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. The film also stars Oscar® nominee Terrence Howard, Oscar® winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar® nominee Jeff Bridges and will be directed by Jon Favreau. Paramount Pictures will distribute the film domestically and in various international territories.
"When we first heard the news about Marvel becoming a studio we were very intrigued," explained ILM President Chrissie England. "Marvel has a rich library of fantastic storylines and iconic characters and Kevin Feige is the perfect person to lead them to success. When Iron Man was announced here at ILM the artists started knocking down my door asking to be assigned to the project. We are all thrilled at the opportunity to work on this film and equally excited for our new relationship with Marvel."
"This is also a great script, with new and challenging work, which is just the way we like it here," added Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow (Star Wars: Episode II, King Kong) who is heading up the ILM team with Oscar winning Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, 3). Wayne Billheimer is producing for ILM, with Gretchen Libby as ILM's Executive Producer on the project.
"We are thrilled to partner with Industrial Light & Magic on Iron Man. Their resume speaks for itself, and the visual effects expertise they bring to this project fit perfectly with the high-tech look and feel of this film. Through this collaborative effort, we look forward to providing movie-goers the high-action, visually compelling entertainment they expect from the Marvel brand," said Kevin Feige, President of Production, Marvel Studios.
Marvel's SVP of Post Production, Charlie Davis elaborates, "The post production process on a movie of this scope is always very complex and having ILM create the Visual effects, Skywalker Sound design and mix the sound, and E-film digital color time the picture all in close proximity up in San Francisco is the best of all worlds come together."
Touting a new relationship with EFILM at the Ranch, Skywalker Sound's VP and general manager Glenn Kiser stated, "Because of EFILM's DI suite at the Ranch, our clients can now finish sound and picture at the same time under one roof. At Skywalker, we've always coupled the best creative talent with top technology, and we're looking forward to showing off our best work on Iron Man. We can't wait to have Jon Favreau and his team in the house." Multiple Oscar winner Chris Boyes (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Titanic) will tackle sound design and the mix.
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