Rourke off Iron Man?

You’d think with a sequel to one of 2008’s biggest movies, there would be pretty much smooth sailing heading into IRON MAN 2. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case. Don Cheadle was quickly hired to replace Terrence Howard. Emily Blunt was in talks to star as Black Widow but now there’s word she may be replaced by Scarlett Johansson. Then there’s the very public case of Mickey Rourke. The Oscar-nominated actor entered negotiations to star as the film’s lead villain, The Crimson Dynamo. Sadly for Rourke, and comic fans everywhere, Marvel felt a good starting point for negotiations was $250,000. And despite public begging from potential co-star Robert Downey, Jr., Rourke and his reps disagreed. There was some back-and-forth but now it looks like the back and forth has gone forth.

New York Magazine caught up with Rourke at a fashion show (??) and when asked about it he said, “Right now, we’re not doing Iron Man 2.” Sounds extremely similar to Sam Jackson’s stance on being low-balled by Marvel to star as Nick Fury in THE AVENGERS. Can I just ask a question? What the fuck is going on over there at Marvel? By contrast Brendan Gleeson (a fine actor but hardly has the notoriety of Mickey Rourke) was paid $1.5 million for his role in Shyamalan’s THE VILLAGE. And Mickey Roure is work $250,000? Let’s just hope this is part of some public negotiation ploy by Rourke and his people and Marvel comes to their senses….