It’s a great week for entertainment news so far, including today’s catch which happens to be the first official photo from the set of Iron Man 2! Director Jon Favreau made the announcement just yesterday on Twitter that he had approved the photo for release by USA Today, and today the photo made its debut. It depicts Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark with four different models of the Iron Man armor in the background: the Mark I, II, and III from the original film, and a fourth (Mark IV?), most likely an updated version of the armor that the character has since upgraded to.

Iron Man was one of last summer’s blockbusters, as well as one of two films, along with The Incredible Hulk, that marked the debut of Marvel Studios as an independent film studio. The company had previously worked with other film studios on Marvel Comics film adaptations, including 20th Century Fox, Columbia, and Lionsgate, but as of 2008 the entity established a name for itself and funded its own properties, a move that allowed them to retain full creative control and not have to submit to the changes and demands of outside producers. That’s not to say that the studio didn’t suffer any economic side effects, as documented by the nigh loss of big name actors Sam Jackson and Mickey Rourke for Iron Man 2 due to insufficient offers of compensation.

Update: Here is a new version of the trailer sans French subtitles from MySpace Movies. Personally, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad looking as the critics are making it out to be!

Here is the latest trailer for the upcoming Stephen Sommers-directed G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. It’s subtitled in French, but that doesn’t impede the video too much. I’m personally looking forward to this, because I was a child of the ’80’s so this feels a bit nostalgic, but it still feels like something fresh and new. I’m not expecting anything special, but I still think it’ll be a fun ride, judging by the trailer. When we get a subtitle-free version we’ll post it up here.

[ via Allocine.fr ]

This Saturday, X-Men Origins: Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber along with director Gavin Hood were on hand for a news conference in Los Angeles to answer questions about the upcoming flick, which hits theaters this Friday. Hugh and Liev talked about the grueling physical demands of an action-oriented shoot while Gavin discussed the restrictions of directing an actor submerged underwater. View a partial transcription after the jump.

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