Will Smith’s recession proof, Mickey Rourke’s not

While Hollywood studios are preceding cautiously with their 2010 and 2011 lineups, stars are feeling the pinch with inflated paydays a thing of the past. According to Variety, Disney asked Nicolas Cage to cut his price on the next "National Treasure" sequel. And comeback kid Mickey Rourke was given a lowball opening offer of $250,000 by Marvel to play the main villain in "Iron Man 2.” Such tactics already prompted Samuel L. Jackson  to swear off playing Nick Fury in the sequel. Meanwhile, the red-hot Twilight stars will likely cash low-seven-figure upfront paychecks for sequel "New Moon" but won’t sink their fangs into first-dollar gross as they hoped.

Variety