Mickey Rourke in Iron Man II, but at What Price?

About a year ago, Mickey Rourke was just one of those quirky local fixtures, hosting karaoke nights at Rok Bar and getting arrested for drunk scooter driving. He was another has-been, which are about a dime a dozen around here, but thanks to the weird forces of fate, Rourke is once again hot in Hollywood, and is apparently being cast in surefire blockbuster Iron Man II.

The original Iron Man made about $581,931,630 in gross revenue, so with an Oscar nod all but certain, Rourke will be getting a big paycheck, right? Not so, according to /film. Marvel Studio's original offer was a paltry $250K. A-list TV stars get more per episode than that.
It seems he could command even more for big-name projects, so he might want to rethink his refusal to reprise his Sin City role.

In the meantime, Rourke will have two other movies coming out in 2009: Killshot, based on an Elmore Leonard story, with costar Diane Lane, and The Informers, based on the Bret Easton Ellis Book, with a cast of other forgotten former A-listers including Winona Ryder, Kim Basinger, and Billy Bob Thornton. Rourke is currently filming 13 with Jason Statham and 50 Cent, and was also cast in the Sly Stallone-directed The Expendables.