This week, Ironman 2 officially begins production. The movie is being shot in and around Los Angeles, also out of Raleigh Studios, in Manhattan Beach. After the big hoopla over Mickey Rourke, how much did Rourke and Scarlett Johansson end up getting paid?

Newsarama Reports:

Masters confirms that both confirmed Iron Man 2 co-stars Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson were originally offered $250,000 for their work in the upcoming sequel to 2007 blockbuster, and both negotiated their fees to somewhere north of $400,000.

The days of the $20 million star may be over, Masters reports, adding that from what she’s heard, more and more, studios will offer half the regular fee, and if the star balks, move on to the next option rather than negotiate.

Masters’ article quotes an agent who does not represent either Rourke or Johansson as saying, “On certain movies, they feel like whoever they put in a part is fine. Once they lock down Robert Downey, Jr., on Iron Man 2, everything else is fine. I don’t think they give a shit if it’s Mickey Rourke or Scarlett Johansson.”

On the Marvel side, Masters talks to COO of Marvel Studios, Tim Connors who says, “We don’t like to be portrayed as being disrespectful to talent, notwithstanding the fact that we are very budget-conscious and can’t always meet an actor’s initial asking price. We say, ‘We wouldn’t normally ask an actor at this level to do this but we’d be thrilled to have them.”

I seriously doubt the day of the $20 million dollar movie actor is over, but I imagine the multi-million dollar deals for character actors is. It’s a great vehicle for Mickey, he can leverage his Ironman 2 role for bigger paying opportunities in other films.

Either way, I LOVED the first Ironman movie and the second one should be even better. Go Mickey, Virgos rule!!!