Mixed emotions.
Mickey Rourke signs on for Iron Man II. :D
He may not have won the Oscar, but Mickey Rourke is taking his nomination to the bank. I just heard that ICM has scored its second casting deal for Marvel's Iron Man 2. After at first being low-balled by the studio to the tune of $250K, Rourke has signed on for the role of the Russian villain in the sequel after his agent David Unger got the quote up to a "significant" level despite this punishing economic climate where the studios are taking advantage of talent. (No wonder Mickey kept thanking Unger so profusely in acceptance speeches for the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Spirit, and other awards.) But don't expect Marvel to confirm any of this: they won't until all the i's are dotted and t's crossed on the contracts. I can also tell you that Sony was considering hiring Mickey to play the villain in Spider-Man 4. Rourke happens to be in Russia this week promoting Fox Searchlight's The Wrestler, and I hear he'll start researching his new role immediately there. Marvel did the same thing to ICM's Toni Howard client Samuel L. Jackson. The studio low-balled him, but then eventually came up a lot and locked in a long-term commitment for Jackson to play Nick Fury in as many as 9 Marvel films, including Iron Man 2.
************************
Scarlett Johannson officially replaces Emily Blunt. :(
I've already posted my scoop that Mickey Rourke will play the Russian villain in Iron Man 2 in a deal that started out lowball and went up a lot. Now I'm told that Emily Blunt won't be in the sequel and Black Widow will now be played by Scarlett Johannson. Interesting because Scarlett actually screen-tested for the role and didn't get it. But I hear that, unlike Mickey's quote, the deal for her is "just the opposite, a terrible deal made by CAA," one of my insiders says. "It's as bad as any deal that I've heard. It's lowball money. And it ties her to countless movies, including that ensemble The Avengers, which is what makes this brutal for a lot of actors." As for Blunt, I'm told she fell out not by choice but only because Fox exercised an option that the studio had from The Devil Wears Prada to make her do the upcoming film starring Jack Black, Gullivers Travels.
************************
I literally went from this --> :D to this --> :(
Both articles are from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood blog.
He may not have won the Oscar, but Mickey Rourke is taking his nomination to the bank. I just heard that ICM has scored its second casting deal for Marvel's Iron Man 2. After at first being low-balled by the studio to the tune of $250K, Rourke has signed on for the role of the Russian villain in the sequel after his agent David Unger got the quote up to a "significant" level despite this punishing economic climate where the studios are taking advantage of talent. (No wonder Mickey kept thanking Unger so profusely in acceptance speeches for the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Spirit, and other awards.) But don't expect Marvel to confirm any of this: they won't until all the i's are dotted and t's crossed on the contracts. I can also tell you that Sony was considering hiring Mickey to play the villain in Spider-Man 4. Rourke happens to be in Russia this week promoting Fox Searchlight's The Wrestler, and I hear he'll start researching his new role immediately there. Marvel did the same thing to ICM's Toni Howard client Samuel L. Jackson. The studio low-balled him, but then eventually came up a lot and locked in a long-term commitment for Jackson to play Nick Fury in as many as 9 Marvel films, including Iron Man 2.
************************
Scarlett Johannson officially replaces Emily Blunt. :(
I've already posted my scoop that Mickey Rourke will play the Russian villain in Iron Man 2 in a deal that started out lowball and went up a lot. Now I'm told that Emily Blunt won't be in the sequel and Black Widow will now be played by Scarlett Johannson. Interesting because Scarlett actually screen-tested for the role and didn't get it. But I hear that, unlike Mickey's quote, the deal for her is "just the opposite, a terrible deal made by CAA," one of my insiders says. "It's as bad as any deal that I've heard. It's lowball money. And it ties her to countless movies, including that ensemble The Avengers, which is what makes this brutal for a lot of actors." As for Blunt, I'm told she fell out not by choice but only because Fox exercised an option that the studio had from The Devil Wears Prada to make her do the upcoming film starring Jack Black, Gullivers Travels.
************************
I literally went from this --> :D to this --> :(
Both articles are from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood blog.