A paparazzo has filed suit in Federal court alleging Paramount and Marvel Entertainment swiped a pic he took off the internet and used it in “Iron Man” — without paying him!

Ronnie Adams says he legally snapped the first photos of Robert Downey Jr. on set in his “Iron Man” getup. He posted them on a friend’s website, only to have the studio shut it down. Then, months later, Adams saw one of his pics in the movie. He says the studio removed his watermark and used the image without his permission.

A rep from Paramount could not be reached for comment. Marvel told us they hadn’t seen the lawsuit yet.

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Robert Downey Jr. has publicly thanked fast food chain Burger King for helping him overcome his personal problems and resurrect his film career.

In 2003, the actor – who, at the time, was battling an addiction to drugs and alcohol – was driving a car filled with “tons of f***ing dope” on California’s Pacific Coast Highway when he decided to stop at the burger joint for a meal.

And the trip to the fastfood outlet caused him to re-evaluate his whole life.

He says, “I have to thank Burger King. It was such a disgusting burger I ordered. I had that, and this big soda, and I thought something really bad was going to happen.”

According to Britain’s Empire magazine, Downey Jr. proceeded to throw all his drugs into the ocean, resolving to clean up his act then and there.

The actor goes on to hint that a fateful moment in new movie Iron Man, when his character Tony Stark requests a cheeseburger from Burger King after being released from his captors, is a reference to his own experiences.

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INFDaily

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It sounds like the next big male star to come to Chicago could be Robert Downey Jr., if he lands the role of Hugh Hefner in a big-screen biopic now in the works.

It’s not a 100 percent done deal, but sources say Hefner has signed off on Downey to play him in the movie, with the working title “Playboy.”

He took a liking to the actor after seeing “Iron Man” and admiring his humor and skill in showing his vulnerability.

Chicago is expected to be used for the shooting of scenes focusing on the early years of Playboy magazine. A Chicago native, Hefner grew up in Galewood and launched Playboy here before moving the California.

No word yet on when the cameras actually will begin rolling, but it could happen as soon as next summer — depending on Downey’s “Iron Man 2″ filming and the finalization of the Hefner script.

With “Iron Man” a box-office smash, Downey is very much in demand. A representative for the actor said he’s interested in the Hefner project but is unlikely to commit to it until a script is done and a director is named.

Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”), announced last year as the “Playboy” director, is no longer attached to the project but may return to it. Brian Grazer is among the film’s producers.

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He has always been one of my favorite actors.  I’m so glad he’s cleaned himself up, and he’s having such great success with Iron Man!  Bravo Robert!

Robert Downey Jr signs autographs while leaving Mr Chow restaurant after having dinner with Jon Favreau to celebrate the weekend box office success of ‘Iron Man’.

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The 2008 summer movie season started off on a historic note as Iron Man opened with huge box office numbers that propelled it to a weekend win and landed it in the company of the most impressive movie premieres of all time. The Marvel comic adaptation grossed $101 million from Friday to Sunday, according to early estimates. When Thursday evening’s screenings are added in, the film’s full weekend total comes to $104 mil.

Needless to say, that’s a huge debut, much bigger than pretty much any prognosticator had predicted. Unspooling in a whopping 4,105 theaters, Iron Man enjoyed the 10th-best three-day opening ever, the 10th movie premiere to exceed $100 mil, and the No. 2 debut of all time for a non-sequel (behind only Spider-Man’s $114.8 mil). And when you consider just superhero flicks, this movie scored the fourth top opening in history, following those of Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 mil), Spider-Man ($114.8 mil), and X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.8 mil) — all of which are Marvel properties, though Iron Man is the first film to be fully financed by the comic studio. (Teensy caveat: Though Iron Man’s all-time rankings likely wouldn’t be affected, its weekend total could drop below $100 mil when Paramount releases final numbers on Monday.) Oh, and overseas, the action-fantasy brought in an additional $96.7 mil, propelling its worldwide total to $201 mil in five days.

To call this the biggest opener ever for star Robert Downey Jr. is an understatement: The actor has never even fronted a movie that grossed $100 mil during its entire run, let alone in one weekend. It’s also a big boost for director Jon Favreau, who had yet to truly capitalize on his previous hit, Elf, which bowed in 2003 with $31.1 mil, before topping out at $173.4 mil. Iron Man succeeded on the strength of wide critical approval and a stellar CinemaScore grade of A from audiences. Interestingly, however, it did all this despite failing to appeal to what industry insiders call ”all four quadrants” — that is, its audience was not evenly divided between men and women, young people and older folks (a whopping 71 percent of ticket buyers were men and 64 percent were over the age of 25). Still, with such substantial goodwill added to the press that it generates from this big bow, Iron Man may just repeat at No. 1 when it goes up against Speed Racer next weekend.

Meanwhile, this frame’s other freshman film, Patrick Dempsey’s Made of Honor, banked a respectable $15.5 mil at No. 2. Talk about successful counterprogramming, the romantic comedy drew a crowd that was three-quarters female — almost exactly the opposite of Iron Man’s audience. But those ticket buyers gave Made of Honor a merely okay B+ CinemaScore grade, so don’t expect the film to hold up particularly well against next Friday’s new rom-com, What Happens in Vegas.

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