§ Over at his MySpace blog, director Jon Favreau reports on the completion of photography for Iron Man:

Principal photography ended with a huge bang as we filmed the final scenes of Iron Man in Caesar’s Palace. As many of you already know, gambling is a casino’s top priority. A production can not interfere with their cash cow. As a result, movies must shoot during the dead hours, no matter if it’s Swingers or Rain Man. We were given a window of midnight to one the next afternoon to do all of our work. Part of our strategy to prepare for these ungodly hours was to stay up as late as possible the night before and sleep as late as possible. I did half the plan. The wrong half. I stayed out until 7AM and then woke up four hours later. After motoring through the delerium of a sleepless shooting marathon, I am proud to report that we have handily completed our movie on time and on budget. What a great way to end.

Above is a cast photo: Terence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges.

§ Paramount has optioned FOUNDATION by John Rozum and Kody Chamberlain, which is published by BOOM Studios:

Andrew Cosby and Ross Richie, founders and owners of Boom, are producing the adaptation for Par. Boom publishes comicbooks and graphic novels.

“Foundation,” a five-issue miniseries created by Kody Chamberlain, revolves around efforts to stop the unpublished prophecies of Nostradamus from coming to pass.

Boom title is the third to which Cosby and Richie have sold the film rights; rights to “Talent” and “Tag” went to Universal. Boom was launched 18 months ago.

Cosby also co-created the series “Eureka” on the Sci Fi Channel.

Is Boom winning the comics-are-cheap-IP derby in Hollywood?

§ Meanwhile, Rogue Pictures is prepping LOST SQUAD, based on Chris Kirby’s comic for Devil’s Due.

Rogue Pictures’ “Lost Squad” has found its writer and director in Stephen St. Leger and James Mather.

The Irish duo, best known for directing commercials as the team of Saint and Mather, will tackle the bigscreen adaptation of Chris Kirby’s comicbook, published by Devil’s Due.

Project revolves around the adventures of a ragtag unit of Allied soldiers who fight Hitler’s occult agents and other supernatural threats during World War II.

Idea is to overstylize the action in the vein of Warner’s recent graphic novel-based hit “300.”

Danial Alter and josh Blaylock also have production credits of various types.

§ The Darkness Video Game is out for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3

Set in the dark and seedy underbelly of New York City and the ethereal realm of The Darkness, players assume the role of mafia hitman Jackie Estacado, heir to “The Darkness,” an ancient power that awakens within him on his 21st birthday.

Jackie must use traditional weapons as well as learn to command his terrible new powers to seek revenge on his own crime family. The Darkness is based on the best-selling comic book series of the same name, published by Top Cow Productions and created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl. “The Darkness” comic book launched in 1996 and is currently published in 19 different languages around the world.