Terrence Howard flying to Iron Man

LOS ANGELES—Terrence Howard is joining the cast of Marvel's "Iron Man," which stars Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role.
Howard will play Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, the best friend of Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist who becomes the superhero known as Iron Man. Jon Favreau is directing the film.
Filming is scheduled to begin in February in Los Angeles, with the movie's release, through Paramount Pictures, slated for May 2, 2008.
Howard, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his lead role in last year's "Hustle & Flow," also starred in the Oscar-winning "Crash." He recently completed production on "The Brave One" with Jodie Foster and is shooting "Spring Break in Bosnia" with Richard Gere. His credits include "Idlewild," "Get Rich or Die Tryin' " and "Four Brothers.