Terrence Howard got the boot from “Iron Man 2,” right? Lots of speculation into why, right? He apparently wanted too much money, and he didn’t even know he was getting the boot and replaced with Don Cheadle until it was announced in the trades and he read about it like the rest of us, yeah?
Entertainment Weekly takes a look into what may or may not have happened. Essentially they have three posits/rumors/ what have you.
1.) Howard was difficult.
“Hollywood insiders believe the exit stems from Terrence Howard‘s difficult behavior on the set of ‘Iron Man.’ “
However, those with an apparent intimate relationship to the production, claim it was something else.
2). Howard was paid too much initially
“Howard was the first actor signed to the film and, on top of that, was the highest-paid. That’s right: more than Gwyneth Paltrow. More than Jeff Bridges. More than Robert Downey Jr. And once the project fully came together, it was too late to renegotiate his deal.”
3) “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau wasn’t exactly super keen on his performance.
“It didn’t help that, according to one source, Favreau and his producers were ultimately unhappy with Howard’s performance, and spent a lot of time cutting and reshooting his scenes. As such, when Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux went to map out the sequel they found themselves minimizing Howard’s story line. Once Marvel learned that Favreau was thinking of curtailing the role, the studio went to the actor’s agents with a new and drastically reduced offer — a number that’s similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie. The agents, according to sources, were so taken aback by this new figure — estimated at somewhere between a 50 and 80 percent pay cut — that they questioned it. Why did they blanch? Multiple sources say that Marvel execs never told Howard’s reps that they had issues with the star’s on-set conduct.”
Sounds like it was a bit of all three elements. Either way, can’t be great for Howard’s career or the “Iron Man,” franchise, but what’s done is done. Somewhere along the line Jon Favreau is going to have to talk about this and if he indeed have problems with Howard, one can presume it will be pretty awkward to talk about. Favreau seems like a nice guy too and doesn’t seem like he could lie rather well about it.