Wahlberg In The Ring For THE FIGHTER

The New York Times had an interesting story on David O. Russell’s THE FIGHTER starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Many oscar pundits see the film receiving more than a few nominations with its mid-December 2010 release.

During the St. Louis premiere of THE OTHER GUYS earlier this month, Wahlberg briefly talked to WAMG’s Melissa Howland about his upcoming film.

Here are excerpts from the NYT article:

THE FIGHTER has those elements, plus Christian Bale, and the extraordinary passion of Mark Wahlberg, who started training almost four years ago for the lead role as the real-life boxer Micky Ward.

But the movie still had to survive a grueling behind-the-scenes struggle before landing on the schedule at Paramount Pictures, which plans to release it on Dec. 10, as the awards season hits full stride.

Wahlberg fought hard to get THE FIGHTER made. “Many times I thought it wasn’t going to happen,” said Mr. Wahlberg, who spoke by telephone last week.

Mr. Wahlberg, who spent several years waking before dawn to work on his physical conditioning, recalled thinking, “If I don’t get this movie done the way I want to, I’m going to use this training on somebody in a bad way.”

Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman, acknowledged that his studio had been wary of THE FIGHTER, which promises to become Mr. Russell’s first major release since his I HEART HUCKABEES fizzled for Fox Searchlight Pictures in 2004.

THE FIGHTER is a biopic that follows the ups and downs of a come-from-behind welterweight and his half-brother, and like a lot of adult-oriented dramas, “ultimately, these are tougher movies,” Mr. Moore said. “They’re all about execution.”

Mr. Wahlberg noted, struggle is nothing new when it comes to the story of Mr. Ward and Dick Ecklund, both of whom were written off more than once before Mr. Ward’s triumph, in 2000, in a junior welterweight title fight that figures in the film. “These are guys who against all odds achieved their goals and realized their dream,” Mr. Wahlberg said. “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Have a look at a few scenes from the set of THE FIGHTER due in theaters on December 10, 2010. It will be a packed weekend at the theaters with the release of THE FIGHTER, the Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie thriller THE TOURIST, and the third installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series, THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER.

Photos Courtesy: Copyright – Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. Source: NYTimes.com