Samuel L. Jackson told the L.A. Times yesterday that he may not play military man Nick Fury in Marvel Studio’s Iron Man 2, suggesting that negotiations broke down over money. "Maybe I won’t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury ormaybe Nick Fury won’t be in it," Jackson is quoted as saying. "There seems to be an economic crisis inthe Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], ‘We’re not makingthat deal.’" If Jackson isn’t cast, it will be the second big-name actor to exit the project; Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle late last year, a move also attributed, at least in part, to money. Howard has said publicly that Marvel failed to make good on his deal by letting him go, and those with intimate knowledge of the situation have told EW that it was a combination of a huge salary (Howard was the first actor signed to Iron Man and also the highest-paid) as well as the actor’s difficult behavior on the set. (Howard’s publicist says the actor had a "tremendous experience working on Iron Man.”)

As for Jackson, the Times report says a rep for Marvel would not comment on active negotiations — note the word "active" — so this is not a done deal just yet.

More on Iron Man 2:
Iron Man 2: Cheadle in, Howard out
Comic-Con 2008: What’s next for the Iron Man franchise
Director Jon Favreau talks about Iron Man‘s success and the sequel plans
Terrence Howard addresses ‘Iron Man 2′ personnel switch
‘Iron Man 2′: Why Terrence Howard was recast
Release dates for Iron Man 2 and other upcoming Marvel movies
Hollywood Insider: Justin Theroux to write Iron Man 2
First Look: Robert Downey Jr. in an extra from the Iron Man DVD

More fuel for the rumor that has High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens cast as werewolf Leah Clearwater in Twilight sequel New Moon: Twilight‘s Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen, told MTV at a Golden Globes afterparty that Hudgens has actually auditioned for the role. "I think she’d be great," MTV quotes Greene as saying of Hudgens. EW has not yet been able to confirm the report, but rest assured, we’re on it.

More Twilight:
Taylor Lautner to keep Jacob role
Twilight sequel: Chris Weitz to direct ‘New Moon’
EW’s Twilight Headquarters
Twilight sequel: Who would you recast?
Twilight Trivia Challenge
Twilight: The EW Photo Album

The battle over the fate of Watchmen took an intriguing turn Thursday when Lloyd Levin, a producer on the hotly anticipated movie, posted an open letter online about the ongoing legal battle over the distribution rights to the graphic novel. In his candid post, Levin gave Fox a tongue-lashing for taking the matter to court — especially since Fox gave the script a "flat pass" in 2005 because "executives there felt it was one of the most unintelligible pieces of s— they had read in years." Levin went on to laud Warner Bros. (a division of EW parent Time Warner) for taking a chance on the script, which not only clocked in at 150 pages but required a "hard" R rating for its violence and a budget north of $100 million, despite the fact that it came with no stars.

"Warners supported the whole package and I cannot begin to emphasize how ballsy and unprecedented a move this was on the part of a major Hollywood studio," wrote Levin, who produced the movie with Lawrence Gordon and Thomas Tull, among others. "Shouldn’t Warner Brothers be entitled to the spoils — if any — of the risk they took in supporting and making Watchmen? Should Fox have any claim on something they could have had but chose to neither support nor show any interest in?"

Fox, which prevailed in court last month when a judge ruled that it had distribution rights to the popular franchise, immediately issued a response to Levin’s letter: "We appreciate Mr. Levin’s passion for this project, but he has neglected basic facts and legal rulings. First, Fox notified Warner Brothers of our rights in this project months before production on the film began; they chose to ignore our rights on this occasion and several times after that and proceeded at their own risk.

"Two, only after having our rights in the film deliberately ignored by Warner Brothers did we take the action of filing litigation in order to have those rights recognized. In (the judge’s) Christmas Eve order, he specifically ruled that Warner Brothers had been timely notified and that Fox, in fact, had the rights we asserted. There is no question of who is right and who is wrong."

Warner Bros. and Fox will return to court Jan. 20 to discuss remedies, including the fate of Watchmen‘s release on March 6.

Slumdog Millionaire won five Critics’ Choice Awards last night, including Best Picture, Best Director for Danny Boyle, and Best Young Actor/Actress for Dev Patel. Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) and Meryl Streep (Doubt) tied in the Best Actress category, and Sean Penn won Best Actor for Milk. The 14th annual Critics’ Choice Awards were broadcast live from Santa Monica, Calif. on VH1. Watch the full show in the clip below, and the complete winners’ list is after the jump.

More Critics’ Choice Awards:
Dave Karger’s Oscar Watch: Broadcast Film Critics: A ‘Slumdog’ sweep

The 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards

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