Don Cheadle will be replacing Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2. The article hints that Howard wanted too much money for the sequel, which will see his character, sidekick Jim Rhodes, playing a bigger role, perhaps fulfilling his comic-book destiny as Marvel hero War Machine. But the absence of a deal with Howard also allowed Marvel to “take the role in another direction” by approaching Cheadle, the Reporter says. What does that mean? Marvel’s not talking about acting talent here; Crash costars Howard and Cheadle are both top-notch, Oscar-nominated actors. But Howard has an intense, leading-man charisma, while Cheadle is a chameleonic actor who seems to vanish into his roles. Some Iron Man viewers found Howard odd and out of place in the film; others cheered him on, especially when he looked at that suit of armor and said, “Next time.” What does the fact that “next time” now belongs to Cheadle mean for the Rhodes character and his prominence in the sequel? Will fans prefer Cheadle to Howard, or will they resent any change in the first film’s winning formula?

“Iron Man” stayed golden in its third frame at the foreign box office with $25.6 million at more than 5,000 playdates, while “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” debuted powerfully with $20.7 million at 2,000 in a dozen markets.

As “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” waits in the wings, international multiplexes also saw solid overall biz from “What Happens in Vegas,” which continued to grab counterprogramming coin with $20 million at 4,200, declining only 20% in its soph sesh. But “Speed Racer” remained an underperfomer, falling 44% from its subpar launch to $7 million at 4,700.

With three films topping $20 million, the overseas market appears primed to see “Crystal Skull” deliver monstrous offshore grosses this weekend — possibly even challenging the $251 million launch record set a year ago by “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”

The success of “Iron Man” — handled by Par in most overseas territories — has already underlined the appetite for mega-franchise action fare in foreign markets. It’s become the year’s top Hollywood title with $206 million internationally and $428 million worldwide.

“Iron Man” posted impressive holdover biz with a decline of only 34% from its second frame. In the U.K., cooler temps helped as grosses slipped just 5% to $3.7 million, lifting the Brit cume past $25 million. Australian biz also held well, off 30% to $2.2 million, while South Korea declined 56% to $2 million for a $21.9 million cume.

During a panel at the New York Comic Convention today, Marvel Comics announced that they will be working with Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction writer Orson Scott Card to adapt two of his most acclaimed novels, Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow, into comic books later this year.

Ender’s Game, a cult-favorite novel about a child prodigy named Ender recruited to help fight an alien army, and Ender’s Shadow, a concurrent book focused on another young soldier, will launch as separate comics in late 2008, with the first Ender’s Game collection due out in summer 2009.

Like Marvel’s other literary crossovers, the Ender’s Game comics aim not only to woo new readers into comic stores, but also to continue the push of graphic novels and trade paperback collections into traditional bookstores and libraries where they can reach a more mainstream audience.

Card, who also currently scripts the Ultimate Iron Man superhero comic with Marvel, says he was eager to pursue a comic book adaptation, but that the rights were previously bound up in film deal for the two novels, which were optioned by Warner Brothers, the parent company of DC Comics.

“The moment I got the comic book and game rights extracted from the movie option deal, I let Marvel and other [publishers] know about the availability,” says Card. “I truly was open-minded about who would end up doing the books, [but] Marvel got there first, with a terrific, ambitious plan for Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.”

The debut of “The Incredible Hulk” trailer released Wednesday night comes on the background of some dissensions between the lead actor Edward Norton and the Marvel Studios execs, over the film’s final cut, Deadline Hollywood reports.

Insiders say that Norton “was promised tremendous involvement and access” into the movie, and now there is “a lot of posturing going on between Edward’s camp and Marvel over how you edit the final version.”

The sources, which were not named, have also revealed that Norton has been meeting with Marvel Studios Chairman David Maisel, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige, and director Louis Leterrier, and they are all trying to “reach an amicable resolution” to this feud.

Norton rewrote the scrip of the $150+ million production, and he is also the lead actor playing the role of Bruce Banner, which has been previously portrayed by Eric Bana in 2003.

The movie is due to be released on June 13 this year.

Norton has expressed his views as far as editing is concerned with other films, such as “Frieda” and “Keeping the Faith.” “[…] to me the whole thing was to envision it in multiple parts. We left a lot out on purpose. It’s definitely intended as chapter one,” Norton said in an interview earlier this year.

“The Incredible Hulk” is directed by Louis Leterrier, and is said to be more action-oriented than Ang Lee’s 2003 flick.

Incredible Hulk Trailer With Ed Norton