When it rains “Iron Man 2” casting news it evidently pours “Iron Man 2” casting news. Apparently it’s official: Scarlett Johansson has replaced Emily Blunt as the Black Widow in Jon Favreau’s Tony Stark/Marvel sequel. Man, Nikki Finke is on a roll today.
According to the “I beat you to scoops” blogtress:
[This is interesting because] Scarlett actually screen-tested for the role and didn’t get it. But I hear that, unlike Mickey’s quote, 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.”
Emily Blunt had to drop out because Fox exercised an option that the studio had on her for “Gullivers Travels” as reported a few weeks ago, and confirmed by her not that long ago. Mickey Rourke just signed on his role as a Russian villain, presumably, Crimson Dynamo, just a few short hours ago. [DeadlineHollywood]
Brutal? BRUTAL? This is a deal that guarantees her work and a nice paycheck in a number of tentpole properties. We’re in a fucking recession- the money Scarlett Johansson gets for any role outside of a high school play is generous. There’s a difference between “below market value” and “brutal” and people like Finke need to get their head out of their asses.
This was disappointing. I was really excited to see Emily Blunt as the Black Widow.
As much as Scarlett isn’t such a hot thespian, you have to admit: She’s a far, far better actress than Gwyneth Paltry. I’ve seen fake pointsettia plants with more presence and charisma than Gwynnie.
then paltrow? absolutely not.
Incorrect, modpixie.
Paltry rarely if ever comes off as anything but some rich blonde WASP who’s slumming it with…whatever the subject of the film is. Plus, she has that nasally voice and upspeaks everything, and she carries on as though she was better than her material. Yes, she was fantastic as the villianess in HARD EIGHT, but that was a long time ago, and anything she had in her that may have come off as interesting has been replaced with an air of entitlement.
(FWIW, I don’t care much for ScarJo, either, but Paltry just pisses me off. There is no film in which she couldn’t have been recast to a much better result.)
It really sounds like you have some unresolved issues with Blythe Danner.