Wednesday
27Aug2008
Robert Downey Jr. to Play Ben Stiller's Evil 'Master Mind'
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:43PM 
You feel good for
Robert Downey Jr. right about now. The talent
was never in doubt, but his future sure was. And once he got back on track,
Downey appeared in a lot of films that showcased his ability, if too a smaller
audience than he deserved. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Zodiac, and A
Scanner Darkly all feature great Downey creations, and collectively, those
movies made less in their entire theatrical runs than
Iron Man made on its opening day.
But then, the Summer of Downey arrived, and because of
Iron Man and
Tropic Thunder, he's getting the good roles in
bigger movies. It's the Johnny Depp Principle.
Downey has already been cast as
Sherlock Holmes in a very ambitious new
treatment of the legendary detective by Guy Ritchie, and he has nodded in
agreement to a live-action adaptation of the comic series Cowboys & Aliens.
Iron Man 2, of course, is in the works, and there's still talk that he'll
play Hugh Hefner in a biopic down the line. All of that happened within the past
four months, and he's still got
The Soloist this fall, which co-stars Jamie
Foxx and is directed by Oscar nominee Joe Wright.
And today,
Entertainment Weekly learned that Downey may
reunite with
Ben Stiller, who is producing an animated film
called Master Mind. Like The Incredibles, Master Mind is
set in the world of superheroes. Downey would play the villain - the master mind
- "who loses his will to live after accidentally killing his archrival."
Whatever will he do?
The article also indicates that
Tina Fey might join the cast, as well.
Because this is a DreamWorks animation project, and
between the Shrek movies and Kung Fu Panda, the studio has learned
how to print money with their cartoons, this is a no-questions-asked proposition
for Downey for a few reasons: His growing brand name will help this film bring
in an adult audience, the money is certainly good (think sequels), and after
jumping around from Tony Stark to Sherlock Holmes and back again, Downey
probably would welcome the opportunity to sit in a sound booth for a couple
weeks and create something that requires no exercise.
Reader Comments (1)
There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below