Johansson & Rourke Confirmed For Iron Man 2

E! Online has recently confirmed that actress Scarlett Johansson has officially signed on to play The Black Widow in the upcoming sequel, Iron Man 2.

Her rep Marcel Marseau was quoted saying, "Scarlett is thrilled to be a part of Iron Man."

That's not all, Deadline Hollywood Daily has also confirmed that Mickey Rourke is also on board to play a villain named, Whiplash. This villain will take elements from Russian villain, The Crimson Dynamo.

It was also reported that the studio had offered Rourke a lousy 250k for the role, so he was forced to decline. But Rourke's agent, David Unger was reported to have been able to increase the fee at a significant amount therefore giving us our second villain for the film.

Reports are also saying that Rourke was also considered for the role of the villain in the upcoming Spider-Man film.

All I can say is Thank God!! I think Mickey Rourke will be awesome as the villain!! I applaud FOX for coming to their senses. And as for the casting of Scarlett, I'm still on the fence on this one. I think Emily Blunt was actually a good choice. Scarlett, to me, she's a little overrated.

What do you think? Comment!!

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First Iron Man 2 Set Photo!!

Iron Man 2 director, Jon Favreau has released the very first set photo of himself and cinematographer, Matthew Libatique on the set of Tony Stark's house, which is clearly under construction.

While we're talking about Iron Man 2, I'd like to discuss the topic of the problems they had with casting. A few months ago, we posted about the casting of villains, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell, as well as Emily Blunt as The Black Widow. The rumors surfaced how Rourke was unhappy with the salary he was being offered, and that Emily Blunt was gonna be replaced by none other than Scarlett Johansson. Internet buzz went crazy over this, with speculations connecting all the way back to the re-casting of Terence Howard's character, Rhodey. Are these actors really being underpaid? Well, the good news is that some light has been shed over the matter!

Jon Favreau was interviewed during Oscars night, and he said that Fox has decided to exercise their option to cast Emily Blunt in their upcoming film, Gullivers Travels, therefore making her unavailable for Iron Man 2.

With regards to Mickey Rourke, he was quoted saying, "he isn't officially cast but that he is a fan."

Robert Downey Jr. also said that producers are still hard at work at casting Rourke as a villain. He was quoted saying, "they are slaving away for a hot script" for Iron Man 2.

Now could all these sudden cast changes affect the film? Probably not. But if you ask me, I think that they should definitely cast Mickey Rourke. Rourke, who successfully pulled off the biggest comeback in history, is definitely a hot ticket now....and I can totally see this dude playing a bad-ass villain!! And as for the role of Black Canary, I'm really just either/or on that matter. I mean, both actresses are fine as hell, and I'm sure both would do a great job! Hey, as long as you got Downey Jr putting on the suit, then I'm a happy camper.

What do you think? Comment!!

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Astro Boy: Will You Go see It?

Astro Boy is an upcoming computer-animated 3D film based on the character of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. The film will be produced by the same people that brought us TMNT, Imagi Animation Studios. The film will star Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as Astro Boy, Nicholas Cage (Con-air), Nathan Lane (Stuart Little), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Donald Sutherland (Dirty Sexy Money), and Scarlett Johansson (The Island). The movie is directed by David Bowers (Chicken Run). It comes out October 23, 2009.

The Plot:

The movie will be set in Metro City in the distant future. Astro Boy is a robot built by a brilliant scientist who had built him in the image of the son he had lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving scientist's expectations, Astro Boy embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing a netherworld of robot gladiators, before finally coming back to Metro City to save it, and reconnect with his father who rejected him in the beginning.

Astro Boy Trailer:



Bottom Line:

I was a fan of this character way back when I was still a little one. I never fully understood his story, but I always thought that the character looked really cool. Astro Boy was a big hit back in the day, so I'm expecting to see a lot of adults looking to reconnect with their childhood on opening day. The trailer looks good, they've got a great cast, and the plot of the movie somewhat stays true to the original material. How can you go wrong with that? Bottom line, I'm there opening week!

Will you go see it? Comment!

"Nuff' Said"