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Downey Jr Launches Prod. Company with McQueen Heist Film

by Alex Billington
June 15, 2010
Source: Deadline

Robert Downey Jr. and wife/producer Susan Downey have officially launched their new Warner Bros based production company called Team Downey, hiring David Gambino as the president of production. The first project on their slate is called Yucatan, a heist film originally crafted by legendary actor Steve McQueen as a starring vehicle for himself. The script was discovered in "a trunk long after his death" along with some 1700 pages of notes and storyboards, which is why its been a particularly challenging production to get off the ground. But WB has made a new rights deal with McQueen's son, who will now also executive produce.

Downey has been working with Warner Bros quite a bit recently (give or take Iron Man). And in February he struck a deal with them after shooting Todd Phillips' road trip comedy Due Date with Zach Galifianakis. According to Deadline, he's going to start shooting Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity sometime very soon, then stop midway through to shoot Sherlock Holmes 2 with Guy Ritchie, then return and finish Gravity before looking at other films, like Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful. I'm sure Yucatan and other projects we don't know about, not to mention The Avengers, are in the mix for him as well, but let's take it one year at a time.

Considering that Team Downey just opened their offices, we don't know much else about the company and their goals, but Deadline does drop an interesting tidbit: "While a priority is finding a project for Downey Jr. to direct, they intend to go beyond hatching star vehicles for him." Whoa! I didn't know Robert Downey Jr. was interested in directing, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. As for McQueen's Yucatan, IMDb describes the plot of the project: "A group of thieves head to Mexico to find a centuries-old treasure buried beneath the Yucatan peninsula." I'm already looking forward to seeing Team Downey tackle that one.

Explore tags: Movie News, Opinions

Quaked2023

Sounds interesting we'll see... You think he'll produce the next Iron Man movie or the Avengers??
Annonymous

Oh this sounds fantastic! I am so happy for Robert, he has worked hard to achieve this. He is a fantastic actor, so I am sure his production company will be great as well. I can't wait to see his first directing project either. If it has any of the passion he shows in his acting it should be one to see.
http://movies.iconocritic.com peloquin

It seems like if you want to be on the A list as an actor you need to start your own production company. I think it's great because it gives artists creative control rather than business men.
Stephie

I think Team Downey will bring a badly-needed jolt of disruptive creativity and innovation to Hollywood, and I also hope that they will bring us projects that aren't necessarily "blockbusters", but good films, with intriguing stories that are well-written. I look forward to seeing the evolution of the Downeys as creative artists with great anticipation.