With a little over a week left to go until the film opens in theaters, Iron Man 2 held its world premiere here in LA last night at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, CA. As you might expect, the main stars of IM2 were in attendance last night along with a few of their very famous friends. Here are a few photos from last night’s Iron Man 2 Hollywood premiere and some deets from Robert Downey, Jr. himself about what we can expect from this second installment of the Iron Man saga:

As a kid, Robert Downey Jr. never dressed up in superhero costumes. “Growing up? No,” says Downey Jr. “But in my mid-30s in Palm Springs right before an arrest? Yes. It was a premonition.” Although the actor is making light of his past struggles with drug abuse, what is no joke is Downey Jr’s success at resurrecting his acting career after overcoming a long addiction to heroin and cocaine. He made a stunning comeback as Tony Stark, an arrogant, hard drinking, wisecracking playboy engineer who also wrestles with his own personal demons in 2008′s big screen adaptation of the Marvel comic book series, “Iron Man.” Now, Downey Jr., 45, is back in “Iron Man 2″ along with plenty more action, characters and explosions. The film opens in much of Europe, Asia and Australia this week before hitting U.S. theaters on May 7. The parallels between Downey Jr. and Tony Stark were obvious in the original and are just as clear in the sequel. After five years of drug arrests culminating in a prison term in 2000, Downey Jr.’s return to Hollywood’s A-list post- “Iron Man” — including a Golden Globe award for his role in “Sherlock Holmes” — is not unlike Stark’s own rise in status after he reveals his dual identity as the armored superhero. “I think (Robert’s own success) informed the level of fame and resurgence that Tony Stark experiences since he announces that he’s Iron Man,” director Jon Favreau told reporters. In “Iron Man 2″, Stark himself is no longer making weapons — just saving the world and enjoying his rock star status. Except now the U.S. government insists that he hand over his superhero suit to the military. Stark refuses. Favreau likened the sequel to someone throwing another party after a successful first bash. “Iron Man” earned $585 million at worldwide box offices and the pressure was in making sure “this was going to be as fun or more fun than the last party,” he said. Putting together the sequel began soon after the first movie was released. With plenty of characters vying for a finite amount of screen time in the sequel, Favreau needed actors who could really “make an impression.” Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts, who Stark promotes from assistant to CEO of his Stark Industries. At the same time, Stark needs to solve the mystery behind new character, Russian villain Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke. Rounding out the new cast is Scarlett Johansson, sporting red hair as The Black Widow, and Sam Rockwell as weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard in the role of Lt. Col. James Rhodes. Rourke was enlisted to play Vanko (a.k.a Whiplash) as he was coming off his own career resurgence with Golden Globe and BAFTA best actor awards last year for “The Wrestler” … With this cast in place, Downey Jr. said he “felt a little bit like a co-manager of a baseball team that just got an even better line-up in the spring.”

And away we go. Now that the first premiere is in the can, the countdown is really underway for the release of Iron Man 2. As you may recall, IM2 was due to premiere in London first but due to the Icelandic volcano that has been disrupting European air travel, the first premiere was moved over here to LA. I suspect there will other premieres in NYC and London in the coming week … and then the film opens wide here in the US on May 7. I’ve been staying away from reading reviews so as not to spoil the film before I get to see it, but I’m hearing generally positive things about the sequel. I cannot wait to see this film for myself … I can hardly believe we are so close to its release.

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

The principal cast of Iron Man 2 assembled at The Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, CA yesterday to appear at a press photocall to promote their new film:

In addition to posing for this lovely group shot, the individual castmembers — Robert Downey, Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Gwyenth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (Lt. Col. James Rhodey Rhodes/War Machine), Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan), Mickey Rourke (Ivan Vanko/Whiplash) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) — each obliged the assembled photographers for individual shots as well. Check out those photos after the jump …

The new Broadway production of Arthur Miller‘s A View from the Bridge, which stars Liev Schrieber, Scarlett Johansson and others, went into previews in NYC last night at the Cort Theater ahead of it’s official opening on January 24, 2010 (for a limited 14-week engagement. Here is a photo of Scarlett and Liev as they stopped to sign a few autographs after last night’s debut performance and some deets about the show itself:

Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber plays bruising Italian-American longshoreman Eddie Carbone in the new Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, beginning previews Dec. 28. In director Gregory Mosher’s new staging of the Greek tragedy-inspired drama, Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson (“Match Point,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) makes her Broadway debut as the object of Eddie’s affection, his niece. She’s attracted to a newly arrived immigrant cousin, Rodolpho, played by Santino Fontana (Billy Elliot), arousing Eddie’s anger. Also joining Tony Award winner Schreiber (Glengarry Glen Ross, Talk Radio) at the Cort Theatre are Jessica Hecht, Michael Cristofer and Corey Stoll, plus Alex Cendese, Anthony DeSando, Antoinette LaVecchia, Mark Morettini, Joe Ricci, Morgan Spector, Robert Turano and Marco Verna. Opening is Jan. 24, 2010. A 14-week engagement has been announced. According to production notes, “In A View From the Bridge, Miller’s most passionate drama, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scarlett Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant [played by Fontana], Eddie’s jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world.” The play was first seen on Broadway in 1955 as a short play paired with A Memory of Two Mondays. (Miller is, of course, the major American playwright known for All My Sons, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible.) A View From the Bridge resurfaced Off-Broadway in 1965, starring Robert Duvall. A 1983 Broadway revival starred Tony LoBianco. In 1997, Anthony LaPaglia played Eddie in a Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway revival. The actor won a Tony for his turn, and the production won the Tony as Best Revival.

On the one hand, I would LOVE to see Liev Schrieber on the Broadway stage. He is actually a pretty fantastic actor (X-Men Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding). On the other hand, I can’t for the life of me imagine that Scarlett Johansson would be very good on the live performance stage. But … what do I know? After the jump, check out a short promo video that features Liev and Scarlett (among others) talking up the play …

Scarlett Johansson, who was featured on the January 2009 issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine earlier this year, is once again featured on the cover of HB for their January 2010 issue. In her coverstory interview, ScarJo talks about the charity work she did in Africa this year and reveals the apprehension she felt when she first started giving aid. Here is Scarlett‘s Harper’s Bazaar coverphoto and some excerpts from her interview:

Scarlett Johansson was “apprehensive” about doing charity work in Africa. The 25-year-old actress was nervous when she recently travelled to Rwanda to support several women’s charities – which help improve the lives of females in the poverty-hit region – because she had been warned she might be disturbed by what she saw. She said: “I had a bit of apprehension walking into the first hospital. But I soon realised you’re standing before people. They might be very ill but they’re just people like everyone else. Suddenly you’re not aware of how you’re feeling, how you’re going to look. If you let your guard down and stop being aware of yourself, you’re able to really connect with people.” During her work with charity Red, the blonde beauty was amazed by how positive the women she visited were and how strong their bond was with each other. She told Harper’s Bazaar magazine : “I’ve always found women have power in numbers. We draw strength from the support of other women.” The curvaceous actress has since posed in sexy animal-print outfits for a photo shoot in Harper’s Bazaar magazine to raise awareness of the cause.

I love this idea of coupling a magazine coverstory with spreading awareness of ScarJo‘s charity work … it’s a great way to get the message out to more people, without them even realizing it. After the jump, check out a few photos from Scarlett‘s Harpers’s Bazaar photospread and read a few more excerpts from her interview …

Ryan Reynolds was the celebrity guest host on last night’s ep of Saturday Night Live and while I love me some Ryan Reynolds, I was horribly dismayed that he didn’t take off his shirt once … not once! All in all, SNL was kinda entertaining but truth be told, it was far from the funniest ep of the show I’ve ever seen:

At least Ryan looked good and did his best with the skits that they came up with for the show … he even brought along his wife Scarlett Johansson to do a little cameo in one of his skits:

If you would like to see a sampling of Ryan‘s appearance on SNL last night, you can check out his monologue, his skit with Scarlett and a digital short that featured Andy Samburg and Elijah Wood — after the jump …

Scarlett Johansson is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Glamour magazine. She is joined inside the mag with her BFF and singing partner Pete Yorn with whom she just released a new album called Break Up. Here is Scarlett‘s Glamour coverphoto and some excerpts from her coverstory interview:

At 25, Scarlett Johansson has a hot career, an even hotter husband (Ryan Reynolds) and a brand-new album with pal Pete Yorn (seen here). We adore her, and you will too—listen in as she talks marriage, work and body image with Amy Larocca.

GLAMOUR: Your album’s fantastic! How was it to work with Pete Yorn?
Scarlett Johansson: I’ve known him for a while. I’ve worked with both of his brothers, who are in the entertainment industry. One day Pete texted me out of the blue saying, “Hey, do you want to record an album?” I was like, Whoa, that’s a weird message. But I said, “Sure—why not?”

GLAMOUR: How’d he know you sing?
SJ: He didn’t!

GLAMOUR: He just thought you would be good?
SJ: He said he had some weird fever dream—and had this idea that we should do a duets album…. When I started singing along to the songs he was playing me, he said, “I’m really happy that you can sing!” [Laughs.]

GLAMOUR: So would you like to do musical theater?
SJ: I would love to work on Broadway, but I don’t know that it would manifest itself in musical theater…. I have terrible stage fright that I’d have to get over.

GLAMOUR: Really?
SJ: Crippling. Not as a kid. It came on when I was a teenager, and I think it somehow sticks with you.

GLAMOUR: You’ve really grown up in front of the camera, but you didn’t seem to have an awkward phase.
SJ: I was pretty awkward in The Horse Whisperer. I watch it now, and it’s painful. Did I go through a phase where I had cystic acne and greasy hair? No. But I certainly had an awkward phase.

GLAMOUR: I don’t necessarily mean the cystic acne. I just mean the “I don’t know how to be in my own skin” phase.
SJ: I never had that. I think that’s because I was an actor, and you have to be comfortable in your body.

GLAMOUR: I read your piece [about body image and Hollywood] on The Huffington Post recently. Tell me what inspired you to write it.
SJ: I was training for Iron Man 2, which was a lot of work, full-on. I wanted to do a lot of my stunts and to be believable as this superspy, so I started getting fit and eating well and feeling really good. But then there was this rumor mill cranking out stories that I had lost 14 pounds—I could never lose 14 pounds—and was on some miracle diet. I just thought it was ridiculous. I was working my ass off, but I was doing it on my own terms and certainly through no miracle diet. I don’t want to get caught up in that s—t…. I hate seeing these ridiculous articles where [tabloids] guess someone’s weight. But they approach it as fact! I’m sick of it as a woman—not just as a person on the other side of it. As a reader. I got fed up.

GLAMOUR: How do you keep sane about the whole weight thing?
SJ: I want to look good, obviously. I don’t want to look at the screen and go, Oh, my skin looks terrible, or, I look exhausted. That’s why I take care of myself when I work…. But I don’t feel the obligation to be a specific weight. I don’t feel like I have to fit into a body that’s not my body. I have the body I have and I try to maintain it.

GLAMOUR: A lot of actors aren’t able to [have that attitude].
SJ: If you open up a magazine and there’s a photograph of you with a giant red circle around your thigh, like, look at this cellulite, any person—I don’t care what you do—would be mortified. It’s no wonder people get crazy about it.

Scarlett‘s Glamour interview continues HERE and pretty much covers the same sort of material. I always find her more interesting to look at than to listen to … and I deffo find her husband Ryan Reynolds much more interesting to look at than her so … yeah. After the jump, check out some of the photos from Scarlett and Pete‘s photospread …

Happily marrieds Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds were spotted enjoying a bike ride in SoCal on Ryan‘s motorcycle yesterday afternoon … of course, Ryan was lookin’ hawt on the bike … ScarJo, not so much:

I mean, it’s not that Scarlett looked bad … I think it’s just that I don’t really care for her helmet and plaid is not a good look for her. Mebbe it’s just that Ryan really knows how to look good on a bike and dear Scarlett pales in comparison. Or, you know, mebbe it’s the fact that Scarlett is married to one of the hottest guys in Hollywood and I kinda, sorta hate her guts for it? HMMM … well, whatever the case may be, I think it’s safe to assume that most folks would much prefer to see photos of Ryan Reynolds on his motorcycle all by himself … sans wife (and shirt). I mean … right?

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

Last week we got our first look at Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the new film Iron Man 2 (due out in theaters next Spring) and today we get to check out another new photo of Scarlett as Romanoff along with new promo pics of the other characters in Iron Man 2 … including Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodey Rhodes and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. Here are the new promo pics along with some info on Iron Man 2‘s presence at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA this weekend:

Mickey Rourke’s screams fill the empty basin of the Los Angeles River and spill into the midnight air. He’s having trouble with his Russian accent, which is turning the intended line from the Iron Man 2 script — “until you’ve lost everything” — into “Until you’ve lost every ting.” And the off-camera epithets are flying. After a half-dozen takes, he nails it. As he does after many scenes, Rourke beckons to his personal assistant — a round, unkempt guy known on set as “Superbad” because of his resemblance to actor Jonah Hill— who lights a smoke and puts it between Rourke’s lips. “Damn,” Rourke mutters, settling into a director’s chair. “That’s a tricky accent. But I wanted to be more than a one-note villain. That might have worked in the old comic-book movies, but not now. Not with these fans.” By “these” fans, Rourke means the 125,000 who will be awaiting him and dozens of other stars, filmmakers and TV producers who dare peddle their wares at Comic-Con, the nation’s largest convention of pop-culture junkies and self-proclaimed superhero nerds. The convention, which kicks off Wednesday night at the San Diego Convention Center, has become kind of an American Idol-style tryout for Hollywood. Since 2001, when 20th Century Fox trotted out its cast for X-Men, studios and networks have tried to dazzle the Twittering YouTube generation with celebrity glad-handing, sneak peeks and panel discussions. Of course, bringing your product to Comic-Con can be like singing for a room full of Simon Cowells. “This is about the toughest group there is to impress,” says Robert Downey Jr., reprising his role as playboy superhero Tony Stark. “They’re watching your footage, every one of them waiting to Twitter whether you suck.” … “You can’t underestimate how powerful this group is,” Favreau says. “It’s an unlimited press corps, all of them knowing how to communicate in a digital age. The geeks have inherited the Earth, and that’s good news for us.”

The raucous festivities at Comic-Con get underway tonight and will carry forth into the weekend. I have to say, as much fun as the superhero/sci-fi lovefest sounds I cannot, for the life of me, imagine that I would not have my head explode if I indulged. I never had the chance to attend Comic-Con when it wasn’t such a big deal … now that it’s the biggest deal ever, I can’t say that I have any interest in throwing myself into the fray. I’m sure that the legions of fans who are making their way to SD right now (and over the coming days) will have a blast … I will be just happy to watch from afar … and by “afar” I mean right here at home ;)

[Source]

Earlier this year we learned that Mango spokesmodel Penélope Cruz was being replaced by Scarlett Johansson and today we get to see the first images released from the Mango Fall/Winter 09/10 ad campaign that feature their new spokesmodel … behold:

Ever since Mango first announced that Scarlett Johansson would be replacing Penelope Cruz for their Fall/Winter 2009 ad campaign, we have been dying to see what they had in store for us. And they did not disappoint! The sultry star, who is also the face of Dolce & Gabbana’s makeup line, sheds her ’50s glam for a punky ’80s feel for Mango’s new ads shot by famed photographer Mario Sorrenti in Los Angeles. Showing off her legs in short tight dresses complete with high heels, tousled hair and animal prints, Scarlett has never looked sexier.

Mango claims that their clothes are for the “young, urban woman” and when I think “young” and “urban” OF COURSE I think of Scarlett Johansson … but not really. Yeah … I dunno … she looks pretty in these photos but … Mango? Really? It all looks so … generic. I’m not all that impressed … but mebbe I’m missing something? Thoughts?

[Source, Source]

Entertainment Weekly magazine scored a bit of a coup this week as they are able to feature the principal stars of the much-anticipated sequel Iron Man 2 on their cover this week. Additionally, EW is also giving us the exclusive first look at Scarlett Johansson in the role of Black Widow! Here is the cover of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly that features Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke):

Entertainment Weekly’s second annual Comic-Con preview issue features Iron Man 2 on the cover, and inside it’s packed with exclusive first looks at highly anticipated TV shows, comic books, and movies. The first Iron Man blasted Robert Downey Jr. back to stardom, and the superhero franchise is readying to return to the big screen on May 7, 2010. Iron Man will battle new villain Mickey Rourke, size up Scarlett Johansson (exclusive photo of ScarJo as Black Widow, after the jump!), and, hopefully, prove that the success of the first movie wasn’t a fluke. Downey knows the movie isn’t an underdog this time around. “There are a lot more invisible eyes on us now,” he says. When Marvel Studios first announced the sequel, no one was sure what the movie would be about. Downey, director Jon Favreau, screenwriter Justin Theroux, and the rest of the creative team struck upon the idea of introducing two very different foes for Stark. On one side is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a fast-talking weapons manufacturer who fancies himself the next Tony Stark; on the other, Vanko, who, while incarcerated in a Russian prison, creates his own battle-suit, which shoots devastating, whip-like beams. Hammer and Whiplash join forces to take down Downey’s character, Tony Stark. Rourke, for his part, wanted to instill some lightness into the role of the heavy. “I told Favreau, ‘I don’t want to just play him as a one-dimensional p—-,’” he says. “He let me have a cockatoo, who I talk to and get drunk with while I’m making my suit.” Just as the deals were being hammered out, Terrence Howard — who had played Stark’s best friend — fell out of the sequel in a public salary dispute. The role was re-cast, with Don Cheadle stepping in. “We had to make some tough deals,” says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “When they got public, you go, ‘That sucks. Okay, you want a peek behind the curtain? Here you are!’” Says Cheadle, “Terrence and I couldn’t be more different. We address it head-on in the movie in one exchange. We’re not trying to fool people.” (Cheadle admits he didn’t know much about Marvel’s superhero before the first movie came out: “I always thought Iron Man was a robot.”)

It may seem a bit early to be featuring characters from Iron Man 2 on a magazine cover, especially since the film doesn’t open in theaters until Spring of next year, but with Comic-Con taking place in San Diego, CA next week it makes sense that EW would want to put a big name attraction on the cover. After the jump, check out the first promo pic of Scarlett as Black Widow that has been released to the media …