Variety magazine has an interesting article up about the upcoming 2010 and 2011 movie seasons and how the major studios might be tightening their metaphorical belts in terms of major up-front salaries for stars in projects. One particular point they make concerns the upcoming “Iron Man 2″, directed by Jon Favreau. The sequel to the 2008 comic-book adaptation from Marvel about a billionaire inventor-turned-powered armor herois set to include Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke as the main villains supposedly.

“Then there is comeback kid Mickey Rourke, who is poised to follow his Golden Globe-winning performance in ‘The Wrestler’ with an offer to play the main villain in “Iron Man 2″ - but at a low ball opening offer of $250,000 from Marvel; Marvel’s tactics have already prompted Samuel L. Jackson to swear off playing Nick Fury because of a similarly low offer.”

“Iron Man” earned $582 million at the worldwide box office, plus DVD sales, which raises the questions of just how serious these rumors might be, and if they are just what Marvel Entertainment is thinking with an offer like that considering the anticipation surrounding the Iron Man sequel.

You can check out the entire article from Variety online here.

“Iron Man 2″ has a tentative release date of May 2nd, 2010.

Tune back into Shockya.com for more on Iron Man news.

By Costa Koutsoutis, (Source: Variety.com)