After 15+ years in development, the comic hero first based on Howard Hughes is refashioned as a contemporary industrialist whose technology is being used in the Middle Eastern war effort. (Funny, we can't compare him to any present-day eccentrics, just a list of bad guys come to mind.) Director Jon Favreau was the first name talent associated with project, and any doubt as to his ability to bring in a polished, smart-looking film should have been erased by not only the principal cast he got to sign on, but also his plan for the first film of a proposed trilogy (we hear Downey, Paltrow, and Howard signed 3-picture deals). Here's what we know: Stark is taken prisoner is Afghanistan, and that's where he builds the suit; both the grey suit and the red and gold suit will appear; Stark's alcoholism won't be addressed during the first go-round. And a note to old-school comics fans: It's kind of cool that Stark's old split book counterpart,Steve Rogers (a.k.a Captain America) was greenlighted soon after IM began pre-production. While that project seems to be languishing in development-heck, we imagine IM's initial returns might help get the red, white, and blue balls rolling.

In an earlier iteration of this project, Vince Vaughn was attached; in another Alfonso Cuarón was set to direct Johnny Depp as the man behind the wheel of the Mach 5 ... The main question mark here is whether Andy Wachowski and his still-a-man brother Larry can make a family film that they themselves would go see? (Our answer: of course, since there's no pressure for the plot to make a shred of sense.) We're definitely not worried about cool visuals, but there a lot of writers present here.

Let's just skip over Ashton (I mean, really) and address the real sad story here: Ms. Diaz, who used to be a movie star and not just someone you see in magazines and print ads, has been absent from the top of the box office in quite some time. Unlucky in work and love, we guess. (Whoa, she's like America's own Nicole Kidman!) And now she and Ashton have to star in a by-the-numbers romantic comedy, the kind that reveals its entire hand in its trailer. Was this even filmed in Las Vegas?

Patrick Dempsey is getting the roles that Hugh Grant will no longer consider and for which Hugh Jackman has become too spendy. And we guess this makes Michelle Monaghan the new Sandra Bullock? Anyway, will MoH revive the rom-com genre's failing heart? It's hard to say, especially when the movie will battle Iron Man, which we hear is tracking well with the ladies (not hard to imagine, given the presence of the Gwyneth and RDJ's beefed-up frame). P.S. Whoever first called this 27 Dresses for Guys is clever.

Sorry, Jimmy Fallon, but this is the "Weekend Update" reunion we've been waiting for. After proving themselves week-in and week-out behind the SNL news desk (the last time that program was truly worth watching), it's about time these ladies get their big-screen due. (Not that we're asking for an Amber, the One-Legged Hypoglycemic movie or anything.) We love the supporting cast here, which includes Greg Kinnear as a juice-shop owner and Maura Tierney as Tina Fey's sister; Sigourney Weaver adds to her ever-diversifying recent character choices as the owner of the surrogate agency. Our baby is kicking as we speak. Though it's too bad Ms. Fey didn't write Mama's screenplay ... maybe that's why the reviews have been less than stellar ...