After the successful release of "Iron Man", Marvel Studios announced and immediately set to work on producing a sequel. In July of that same same year, Theroux was hired to write the script. Favreau was signed to return and direct. Downey and Paltrow were to repeat their roles from "Iron Man". Cheadle was brought in to replace Terrence Howard in the role of James Rhodes. In early 2009, Rourke, Rockwell and Johansson completed the supporting cast. The movie went into production that summer. Like its predecessor, the movie was shot mostly in California, except for a key sequence in Monaco.