While negotiations are still going on, I’d like to assume that Mark Wahlberg is at least breathing a sigh of relief at the news that one of his next projects can get off the ground.
As reported in Variety, Relativity Media will be financing the production of The Fighter, with Christian Bale set to star opposite Wahlberg and David O. Russell directing. Based on a true story, Wahlberg will play contemporary boxer Micky Ward whose half-brother (Bale) redeems himself from a former life as a drug addict to regain some glory as Ward’s manager on the road to a world lightweight championship title and three legendary fights against Arturo Gatti.
All this came after both Brad Pitt and Matt Damon bowed out of playing the Dickie Eklund character, a boxer in his own right who once knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard, did hard time for a robbery spree that fueled his crack habit (and was one of the subjects in an HBO documentary about the crack addiction problem in Lowell, Massachusetts), and came out of prison a changed man.
Given that information, you have to wonder why they’d pass on such a meaty part, even if it is in service to playing the supporting role. I mean, Pitt’s favorite characters of mine have almost always been his supporting ones, and you’d think that Massachusetts native Damon wouldn’t mind playing a role based on a guy they call “The Pride of Lowell.”
Anyway, for Wahlberg’s sake, I hope that this time, Bale and Russell stick.