The first Iron Man gave Robert Downey Jr. back his stardom and now the superhero franchise is readying to return to the big screen on May 7, 2010. Iron Man will battle new villain Mickey Rourke, get to know Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. Downey told Entertainment Weekly that he knows the movie isn’t an underdog this time around. “There are a lot more invisible eyes on us now,” he says.
I recommend you go to Entertainment Weekly’s website and view the whole cover story with exclusive photos. The story includes details about Black Widow fighting over Tony with Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow).
Whiplash is awesome looking!! Mickey Rourke is looking crazed with less metal than Iron Man. He even speaks Russian. The apparatuses on the end of his arms are whips used to crack a sharp blow at Iron Man. Get the complete story at USA Today.
The Hollywood remake machine is in full swing it appears, as Variety reports that Mickey Rourke has been tapped to star in a remake of Neil Jordan’s 1986 British gangster film Mona Lisa.
Rourke will play an ex-con who takes a job as a chauffeur for a high-class escort. Eva Green is in negotiations to play the escort.
The original characters were played by Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson.
Larry Clark is writing and directing the film which starts shooting this July in New York.
Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger star in The Informers along with Billy Bob Thorton and a tailored ensemble cast directed by Gregor Jordan. The movie premiered April 16th at Arclight Theater in LA.
Megan Fox of Transformers franchise is set to play an angel opposite Mickey Rourke in Passion Plays, an independent drama that Mitch Glazer is writing and directing.
Rourke will play a down-on-his-heels trumpet player and Fox will play an angel in 1950’s Los Angeles who is part of a carnival. Rourke finds redemption in Fox after he attempts to save her from a gangster. Hollywood Reporter is calling the film a dramatic but heartwarming tale.
It looks like Mickey Rourke finally closed a deal to play the Russian villain in Iron Man 2.
Apparently the negotiating was a bit strained when Marvel Entertainment offered The Wrestler star only $250,000 for his first major studio film in years.
My guess is that Rourke’s salary is much better than that now.
According to Variety, Rourke’s encounters with Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. on the awards circuit sealed his participation in the film. Rourke won the Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for The Wrestler and Downey got Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Tropic Thunder, so Downey used each occasion to recruit Rourke.
As the story goes, when Downey, Rourke as well as actors including Frank Langella and Anne Hathaway took part in a roundtable discussion with Newsweek’s David Ansen, Downey interrupted the proceedings, reached across the table and flat out asked Rourke to do Iron Man 2.
And then, Rourke met with Jon Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux and got to be part of the development of his character. He’ll play Whiplash, a character that includes elements from that comic book villain and Crimson Dynamo, another Russian baddie.
Alice Braga, Mickey Rourke and Vincent Cassel are set to star in the steamy movie 11 Minutes. The movie is based on Paulo Coehlo’s novel which will be directed by Hany Abu-Assad.
Braga plays a inexperienced girl who is betrayed by her first lover and swears off romance. She becomes a high-priced call girl who works at an upscale gentlemen’s club in Geneva. Cassel plays a music executive who gets her hooked on S&M. Rourke plays the club owner.
Italian heartthrob Riccardo Scamarcio is negotiating to round out the cast.
In more Iron Man 2 news, Spoiler TV has posted a new casting call for background roles in the upcoming sequel.
There are a couple of interesting roles up for grabs, including those of a French waiter with an ‘authentic Monaco accent’, various guards fluent in Russian, a Mongolian gangster and sexy and authoritative late 20s brunette.
Meanwhile, in major casting news, despite a quote from Mickey Rourke himself that he is out of the running for the sequel, EW reports that “an offer still stands, though nothing’s yet being negotiated.”
With the 81st Academy Award Ceremony on tonight, it’s time to put our movie knowledge to the test, and guess who will win what this year.
But the one prediction that everyone agrees on is not who will win, but that the ceremony will lose. Despite the organisers attempting to liven up the ceremony by getting Hugh Jackman, a song-and-dance man, to host, the choice of films up for Best Picture only highlight the growing chasm between the choices of the Academy and the choices of the public. Out of the Best Picture nominees, only The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has broken 100mil domestic. Slumdog Millionaire is on its way there, but lagging behind are the remaining three nominees, none of which even made it beyond 30 mil in the US.
And if that isn’t reason enough, there’s the even curiouser case of the absence of The Dark Knight. It’s rare to see a film that is so popular (it just broke a billion dollars worldwide) and so critically acclaimed that isn’t acknowledged by an award ceremony (besides technical awards and Heath Ledger’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which can be argued is only there due to the actor’s tragic death). Even Titanic swept the Oscars and won Best Picture. While many dismiss comic book films as fluff, The Dark Knight displayed the capability of a blockbuster dealing with serious issues (indeed, it shares many themes with No Country for Old Men). And this lack of understanding of the masses will result in only further public disillusionment towards the ceremony.
The Hollywood remake machine is in full swing it appears, as Variety 
in Passion Plays, an independent drama that Mitch Glazer is writing and directing.
In more Iron Man 2 news, Spoiler TV has posted a 
With the 81st Academy Award Ceremony on tonight, it’s time to put our movie knowledge to the test, and guess who will win what this year.