Based on the 32 comments posted in my article featuring the trailer for The Fighter it seems like it is currently a split decision (clever eh?) among the crowd as to whether or not David O. Russell’s latest will be a winner or a loser. Today I have the first two official images released by Paramount from the film and as you can see above, Christian Bale has gone back to his Machinist look for the part of welterweight boxer-turned-drug addict Dick “Dickie” Eklund, older brother to Mark Wahlberg’s character, professional boxer “Irish” Micky Ward.
For 2004’s The Machinist Bale lost 63 pounds and then had to bulk up again to play the role of Batman in Batman Begins. Filming on The Fighter began in July of 2009 and was completed in April of 2010, so it looks like Bale will need to beef up again for his role as the Dark Knight as Batman 3 is expected to go into production sometime around April 2011 for a July 20, 2012 release. At least this time around he’ll have a year to get back to form.
As for the new stills from The Fighter, which co-stars Amy Adams and Melissa Leo and will hit theaters on December 10, you can click here for a full look at the image above plus one other image from the flick.
I have included the trailer once again for those that missed it, and those that want to give it another chance, directly below.
