Rourke In, Blunt Out, Johannson In for Iron Man 2

Big sis Nikki Finke broke the news that despite their initial financial differences (Marvel offered very little, while Rourke was coming off his most critically acclaimed role ever), Mickey Rourke has finally officially signed on to be a “Russian bad guy” in Iron Man 2 thanks to… well, Marvel mostly giving in and paying him a great deal of money. Fine by me — there’s certainly no reason to suspect the next Iron Man movie won’t make as much as the first.

But that’s not all! Emily Blunt has dropped out of Iron Man 2, and Scarlett Johannson has been hired to replace her as the Black Widow. First things first — yes, I would rather show the ladies of IM2 than Mickey Rourke for this news story, which I think is a move everyone can appreciate (say what you want about acting talent, but Scarlett is moderately more attractive than Mickey Rourke. Moderately). Second — apparently, Fox used some contract thing to keep Blunt from starring in the film; it wasn’t her choice. Third — guess how much Scarlett is getting? That’s right, crap. From big sis:

But I hear that, unlike Mickey’s money, 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.”

Eesh. I don’t know why Marvel is determined to cheapskate its way across Hollywood, but I feel better about them lowballing Johannson than an actually gifted actor liked Rourke, I guess. Fourth and finally — this might be the first time in my life I don’t want to see Scarlett Johannson. I’m having a hard time seeing her as Black Widow, not least because she almost certainly does has a ludicrously bad Russian accent. Anyone else a bit disappointed?