Bale in ring with Wahlberg for 'Fighter'

Variety
David O. Russell to direct film By MICHAEL FLEMING, TATIANA SIEGEL

Christian Bale and director David O. Russell are poised to get into the ring with Mark Wahlberg on "The Fighter."

Relativity Media has stepped up to fully finance the film. Paramount Pictures, which initiated the project, will now be limited to distributing domestically.

The picture is expected to begin production in July, though Relativity stressed that the principals’ deals are still being negotiated.

Pic tells the story of Boston fighter "Irish" Mickey Ward and how he was helped to the world lightweight championship by half-brother Dicky Eklund. Eklund once decked Sugar Ray Leonard and went the distance against the boxing legend before forfeiting his career to drugs and crime. He redeemed himself by training Ward through his Rocky-like run to the title. More...

Mark Wahlberg takes jab at role of Lowell boxer ’Irish’ Mickey Ward

Boston Herald
Dorchester thug-turned-Hollywood he-man Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming movie role as Lowell boxer “Irish” Micky Ward won’t start shooting until September - maybe - but it’s taken the Boston boy with bulging biceps two years to bulk up!

Marky, whose not-so-fancy fist work landed him in the Charles Street Jail back in the day, is now a student of the art of boxing and brought Men’s Health mag into his haute home gym - which sports a regulation ring - to tell all.

“I’ll be disappointed (if it doesn’t happen), because it’s been a dream of mine,” he tells the mag. “That’s a large part of why I built the gym, why I put that ring in there. Boxing is one of the toughest workouts. I feel like if I had to run a marathon, I could . . . You relieve your frustrations, that’s for sure.”

In the issue, Mark lays out a three-minute boxing lesson during which he gives a shout-out to his sparring boys back in Boston: “They’re always trying to take my head off . . . they’re very tough. They’ll go 10 rounds if you let them.”

The Fighter

Boston Globe
When we caught up with Michael Intoccia, a developer whose company underwrote the gala, he told us that this year will be big even if the writers' strike lingers on. "I've already been out to Los Angeles for meetings on 'The Fighter' and Mark Wahlberg is ready to go," Intoccia said of the big-budget picture based on the life of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward that is set to star Wahlberg and Brad Pitt. "If the strike didn't happen they would have been here in the spring." Wahlberg wasn't in Boston - he's been on the West Coast - but his big brother Bob was at the party with Michael Yebba, whose project, "The Fallen," is one of those on hold until the writers settle the strike. "But we're looking to get going this year," Yebba told us of his film that will star Bob and be directed by Donnie, who just finished filming "Real Men Cry" with Brian Scannell and Jay Giannone, both of whom were at the party.

Mark's MTV Interview about The Fighter

Mark Wahlberg Getting Ripped For 'Dream-Come-True' Fighting 'Irish' Flick

MTV
Mark Wahlberg has portrayed a football player, a fisherman, a soldier and a dozen other disparate roles. These days, however, the Hollywood everyman is undergoing his most intense transformation yet, fueled by hopes of an Oscar knockout.

"For me, it's a dream come true," a shockingly trim Wahlberg told us recently, explaining his ongoing preparation for the 2009 boxing biopic, "The Fighter." "It's much like when I did 'Invincible'; I'd always dreamed of being a football player. For five or six months, to get the pads on and do the whole thing. This is [another] dream come true."

Growing up on the working-class streets of Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the '80s, Wahlberg became enamored with "Irish" Micky Ward, a perennial underdog with a devastating left hook who'd emerged from the mean streets of nearby Lowell. For 12 months, the "Departed" star has been immersing himself in Ward's mindset, in preparation for the film to be directed by acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky and co-starring Brad Pitt. More...

Brad Pitt laces up for 'Fighter'

Variety
Brad Pitt is poised to star alongside Mark Wahlberg in "The Fighter," the Paramount Pictures drama about Boston boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and his unlikely path to become world lightweight champion.

Darren Aronofsky is directing and Scott Silver ("8 Mile") is working on the current draft of the screenplay.

David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing through their Mandeville shingle.

Wahlberg is set to play Ward. Pitt is in talks to play Dicky Eklund, Mickey's half-brother and a talented fighter who once knocked Sugar Ray Leonard to the canvas and went the distance in a title fight against that boxing legend.

Pitt will replace Matt Damon, who had been looking forward to a reteam with Wahlberg, his co-star in "The Departed" and a fellow Bostonian. Damon just had too many projects on his dance card to make the film on the schedule Par wanted. More...

Short video of Mark at gym talking about The Fighter

Boxeo Mundial

Mark on The Fighter

Source: MTV
"I talked to him [Aronofsky] on the phone two days ago,” Wahlberg revealed to MTV News. “We’re going to sit down with Matt and just figure out when we can start it.”

"The whole thing is to make it look real,” he said. “I want to do these guys justice. We don’t want to do any over-the-top, unrealistic fight scenes.”

“If it ain’t gonna be like “Raging Bull,” then it ain’t worth doing,” he exclaimed. “These guys, they have the story. Their lives are incredible. The things that they went through, and the things that they overcame and endured. It’s one of those amazing stories that I hope I get an opportunity to tell in my career. It’s going to be one of them gems.”

State officials have stars in their eyes

Boston Globe
In the hope of luring more big-budget movies to Massachusetts, state officials are sweetening the pot for Hollywood. Today, Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray , and Speaker Sal DiMasi will gather 'round the Grand Staircase and announce they've simplified -- and made more generous -- the tax credits for film and TV projects. The change, which must be approved by lawmakers, would give just about everyone making a movie in Massachusetts a financial reward for shooting here. (Previously, only projects with budgets of a certain size qualified for cash back.) The impetus for the new rules is the state's intense desire to attract "The Fighter," Paramount's $100 million movie based on the life of Lowell boxing legend "Irish" Micky Ward . The movie, which would star Mark Wahlberg as Ward and Matt Damon as his manager, could begin shooting here as early as this summer if the enhanced tax incentives are passed. "But Paramount could decide to go to Connecticut for an extra $7 million credit," warned state film czar Nick Paleologos . "They could say, 'New London looks like Lowell, we'll do it there.' " Paleologos said Sony, which recently wrapped "21" here, has also pledged to make it back to Boston soon -- if it's worth their while financially.

The Fighter fighting to shoot in Mass.

Boston Globe
Massachusetts' film czar Nick Paleologos is tying to see if he can get the tax incentives worked out so the entire film is filmed there. At the moment it appears they will only do some shooting here with the rest in other states (NY, RI or CT and Hollywood) as the projected budget is $100 Million. The incentives are at the moment more attractive to smaller budgeted films.

Aronofsky in talks to direct 'Fighter'

Variety
Darren Aronofsky is reported to be in talks to direct the picture if Mark and Matt like the rewritten script by Paul Attanasio. It's said they could start filming as early as the summer, which could put it in conflict with The Happening if Mark signs on. Or it could be a very short transition from film to film (something he is quite experienced in).

Wahlberg slims down for boxing role

Boston Globe
Yes, Mark Wahlberg looks leaner than usual, but it's not because he's developed an eating disorder. The Dorchester native's already in training to play boxer "Irish" Micky Ward. "I want to do it right," the "Shooter" star told us. Announced a few months back, the boxer biopic will costar Matt Damon as Ward's trainer and half-brother Dick Ecklund. Wahlberg, a major fight fan, has been trying to make a boxing film for a while, but the scripts were never quite right. (Before the Ward project came along, Wahlberg was set to play Vinnie Curto, an East Boston native, in a movie costarring Robert De Niro as legendary trainer Angelo Dundee.) "I think there's a curse," Wahlberg said. "But if we can get the material where Matt and I are both happy with it, I think it'll finally happen." Antoine Fuqua, who directed "Shooter," got a firsthand look at Wahlberg's diet-and-exercise regime, and was impressed. "A lot of actors have a [workout] trailer on the set, but they never use it. . . . Not Mark." Asked about his lean and mean look, Wahlberg said, "To portray Micky the way I want to, I have to look and have the audience feel like I'm a champion, and that takes a lot of work." . . . Wahlberg's conspiracy thriller "Shooter" opened at No. 3 at the box office with a solid $14.5 million in ticket sales, according to Reuters estimates. The film's studio told the wire service that nearly two-thirds of the audience was over 25 and interested in part by Wahlberg's Oscar nomination for "The Departed."