Iron Man

Iron Man may soon be covered in lead paint. Walt Disney, the company not the ghost, said Monday that it will co-produce its next "Iron Man" movie with a Chinese partner in Hollywood's latest effort to forge closer ties with China's fast-growing film industry and billion potential filmgoers. "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle, will begin filming this year, Disney and DMG Entertainment said. Disney said DMG will jointly produce the movie in China but gave no indication what parts might be filmed in this country.

By sheer numbers, the caped crusaders, masked crimebusters and spandex-ed superheroes lining up at the movie box office for the summer season — which begins Friday when The Avengers opens — has to be the largest gathering of comicbook-spawned dudes (and dudettes) in the history of summer movies. In The Avengers alone, there are, of course, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor, brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to save the world from a demented Norse god (Thor's evil sibling, Loki)

If life were the movies, tonight - at the very moment that Lancaster Dick Gerhart passes the baton of the Glenn Miller Orchestra back to Larry O'Brien at Pottstown's legendary Sunnybrook Ballroom - Gerhart's daughter Ann will be delivering his second grandchild in Philadelphia. Since life is so stubbornly imprecise, Dick may decide at the last minute to rack up another 20 years of one-nighters while Ann's baby chooses to play peek-a-boo for a few more days. Let's hear it for the movies.

Just last summer, America celebrated the tenacity and dedication of one Cal Ripken, who overcame a multitude of sprains, strains and migraines to secure major-league baseball's longest consecutive-game playing streak. Today, racing fans everywhere get to cheer their own Iron Man when Terry Labonte marks his 513th consecutive Winston Cup race - tying the mark set by Richard Petty - in the First Union 400 in North Wilkesboro, N.C. The 39-year-old Texan, in his 19th season, claimed the pole in Friday's qualifying and will pull even with the King on the track where Labonte's streak began in 1979.

Tony Stark, a most dissolute and disarming arms manufacturer, builds flamethrowers in the basement. For kicks. The bucks aren't bad, either. Sporting wit (and goatee) sharp as a survival knife, Robert Downey Jr. is the billionaire bon vivant in Iron Man , the fast, funny and deliriously entertaining flick based on Marvel Comics' self-made superhero. Unlike genetic and environmental supers, this weapons whiz gives himself superpowers. A hard-drinking inventor/playboy/businessman, Tony is a hybrid of Howard Hughes and Hugh Hefner, 1950s fantasy figures gene-spliced for 2008.

MICKEY ROURKE brings a Russian accent and electrified whip to "Iron Man 2," a franchise that gets goofier as it goes along. Director Jon Favreau isn't much for special effects, but he likes eccentric performances and gets them from Rourke, Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell. The story? Who remembers, but the cast has a lot of fun, and so did audiences. The DVD has few perks - most of the featurettes are packed into the Blu-ray edition. You get more extras on the DVD for "Get Him to the Greek," a rollicking spinoff of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" featuring Jonah Hill as a worshipful PR guy shepherding a drug-crazed musician (Russell Brand)

With " Iron Man 2 " upping the character's profile more than ever, Marvel has a multitude of titles featuring the character on the shelves. For those who are fans of the movies, the best is "Iron Man: Legacy. " As the title makes obvious, the book is about how Tony Stark wants the world to remember him. It does not sugarcoat the fact that Stark made his name and fortune making weapons, and writer Fred Van Lente shows him as a man haunted by what he used to do, to the point of having nightmares involving thousands of dead children that are a direct result of the weapons of mass destruction he once made.

IT WAS a big weekend for two indestructible superheroes. Despite lesser reviews than its predecessor, "Iron Man 2," starring Robert Downey Jr. as Marvel's gadget-happy billionaire with real abs of steel, earned $133.6 million domestically on its opening weekend, according to Paramount Pictures' estimates. The opening rocketed past the 2008 original's $98.6 million debut and became the fifth-biggest movie-opening weekend of all time. Having taken in $194 million overseas since it began playing in many international markets last week, IM2's worldwide now exceeds $327 million.

Every morning, 7 o'clock, coach Eddie Robinson or one of his assistants walks the hallways of Grambling State University's football dormitory ringing a cowbell. It has been a Grambling tradition since World War II. But Robinson, who started the tradition, said that times have changed, and that although he hates to admit it, his graduation rate is down a bit lately. This means that at age 76, he can't let up on his players at all. "If he gets up and he gets to breakfast, he'll be up for an 8 o'clock class," Robinson said.

By sheer numbers, the caped crusaders, masked crimebusters and spandex-ed superheroes lining up at the movie box office for the summer season — which begins Friday when The Avengers opens — has to be the largest gathering of comicbook-spawned dudes (and dudettes) in the history of summer movies. In The Avengers alone, there are, of course, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor, brought together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to save the world from a demented Norse god (Thor's evil sibling, Loki)

The Avengers A bunch of mopey superheroes with nothing better to do try to save the world in Joss Whedon's slam-bang 3-D adaptation of the Marvel Comics series. With Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, and Chris Hemsworth as the mighty Thor. PG-13 Sound of My Voice A low-budget indie starring Brit Marling (the star of last summer's sci-fi indie, Another Earth), about a Los Angeles cult leader and her troop of followers. Needless to say, things get weird. R We Have a Pope What if the pontiff passes away and the new guy picked to lead the Catholic Church has a panic attack and a crisis of faith?

Iron Man may soon be covered in lead paint. Walt Disney, the company not the ghost, said Monday that it will co-produce its next "Iron Man" movie with a Chinese partner in Hollywood's latest effort to forge closer ties with China's fast-growing film industry and billion potential filmgoers. "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle, will begin filming this year, Disney and DMG Entertainment said. Disney said DMG will jointly produce the movie in China but gave no indication what parts might be filmed in this country.

WASHINGTON - When Paul Holmgren acquired hulking defensemen Pavel Kubina and Nicklas Grossman last month, the idea was for them to bolster an already-solid blue line. Not be the Flyers' saving grace. Now, since Holmgren announced yesterday that defensemen Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros will be "out indefinitely" with vague lower-body injuries, that's exactly what the Flyers will need Kubina and Grossman to be. Last night, coach Peter Laviolette limited third pairing Andreas Lilja and call-up Erik Gustafsson to a combined 30 minutes and 26 seconds.

GIMME FIVE Jeff Bridges has been acting since 1970, but he didn't make a $100 million movie until 2003. His top five: "Iron Man" (2008), $318 million. "Tron: Legacy" (2010), $171.9 million. "True Grit" (2010), $170.5 million. "Seabiscuit" (2003), $120 million. "King Kong" (1976), $56 million.

YOU CAN look at "Due Date" as a foulmouthed "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," or as "The Hangover 1.5," something to tide you over until 2.0 arrives. "Due Date" offers the director (Todd Phillips), a slew of bit players from "The Hangover" and a healthier (if that's the right word) dose of Zach Galifianakis, the breakout star of "The Hangover," who is effecting a swift and somewhat hostile takeover of movie comedy. In a pop-culture instant, the hairy, stammering misfit has gone from obscure stand-up to box-office dynamite.

1. The Karate Kid (2010) . (PG) 2. How to Train Your Dragon 3. Jonah Hex 4. Get Him to the Greek . (R) 5. Robin Hood . (PG-13) 6. Iron Man 2 . (PG-13) 7. Splice . (R) 8. A Nightmare on Elm Street . (R) 9. Leaves of Grass 10. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time . (PG-13) Top DVD titles at U.S. Blockbuster stores for week ended Oct. 17. ( New this week)

MICKEY ROURKE brings a Russian accent and electrified whip to "Iron Man 2," a franchise that gets goofier as it goes along. Director Jon Favreau isn't much for special effects, but he likes eccentric performances and gets them from Rourke, Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell. The story? Who remembers, but the cast has a lot of fun, and so did audiences. The DVD has few perks - most of the featurettes are packed into the Blu-ray edition. You get more extras on the DVD for "Get Him to the Greek," a rollicking spinoff of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" featuring Jonah Hill as a worshipful PR guy shepherding a drug-crazed musician (Russell Brand)