Pumping Iron         Events              

Marvel Studios and film  distributor Paramount Pictures earmarked circa £25 million for the marketing campaign of its new release, Iron Man on 24 April. (26 Apr '08)

Its stars, Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow (pictured left), paced the red carpet two days ago at The Odeon in London's Leicester Square along with Terrence Howard and director, Jon Favreau.

Nibbs Events was briefed to organise the premiere which saw the red carpet emblazoned with the Iron Man logo and a larger than life  statue of the character in position.

Also in position were product placement deals with Audi, Burger King and 7-Eleven.

Audi astutely used the film as a vehicle to promote its own vehicle, the all-new Audi R8, which emerged as the crime-fighting superhero's cruiser of choice.

The Marvel comic adaptation features billionaire industrialist and genius inventor Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, as the CEO of Stark Industries which is the US government's chief weapons distributor. Following a serious accident, Stark creates a life support suit which he to uses to wage war on crime. "Jon (Favreau) and I were big fans of what (Christopher) Nolan was able to do with Christian Bale in the whole Batman franchise," said Downey Jr said. "They did this very dirty, dark complex take on the superhero. And we thought they did that as good as it can be done so we tried light and simple.”

Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark's assistant, Pepper Pots. “Well, it’s a real honour to play her, someone who’s been in the hearts and minds of the Iron Man fans for so many years," said Paltrow. "I guess I read a lot of the comics and tried to understand who she was, what motivated her, what kind of woman she was.”

While Iron Man's red and gold armour is set to to enthral audiences in cinemas, it was Paltrow who enthralled onlookers on red carpets across Europe during promotion. The London leg quickly became the London legs, as Paltrow resplendent in a lace Balmain mini-dress and Alexander McQueen stilettoes displayed limbs reportedly toned with her workout partner, Madonna.                                                    Gwyneth Paltrow & Robert Downey Jr

The pan-European press junket saw numerous shoe and dress changes with Berlin on Wednesday, Rome on Thursday and London this Friday.
The film itself has had several ownership changes which have seen   Universal, 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema in the frame. Marvel Studios reacquired the rights recently and started production with Jon
Favreau in the director's seat.

In a departure from the New York-based filming of this genre, Favreau opted for a California shoot. “I've been travelling around the world and I’m not someone that likes to fly," says Favreau of the film's promotion. "So, I’ve been from Mexico City all the way to Australia, Korea and to Paris, Rome and now I’m in London. I was in Berlin, and everywhere we go, the people seem to love the stars, they seem to love Gwyneth and everything she’s wearing and are more fascinated with her footwear than the politics of the United States of America."

Iron Man goes on general release on Fri 2 May

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