In the following not safe for work video from Spike TV’s “Guy’s Choice Awards” Mark Wahlberg, accepting Guy Movie of the Year on behalf of The Fighter confirms previous talk of The Fighter 2.
“We left out the Arturro Gatti fights for a reason,” Wahlberg said. “That’s for Fighter 2. We’re not going to do Fighter 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, but we’re going to do 2. We’re going to do the Ward/Gatti trilogy.”
Micky Ward went on to have three epic bouts with Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in 2002-2003, two of which were named Ring magazine fight of the year.
Wahlberg played Ward in The Fighter last year as it went on to be nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Supporting actors Christian Bale as Ward’s half-brother Dicky Eklund and Melissa Leo as Micky’s mother, Alice Ward, both ended up winning the Oscar in the story of “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.
In talking with Entertainment Weekly back in March Wahlberg said he expects the entire cast to be back which includes Bale, Leo and Amy Adams and says the real Dicky and Micky are all for it. “They’re both thrilled by the possibility. I just keep getting the phone calls… [saying], ‘Make sure you get it done.'” Well, based on what he’s saying now, it seems he may have got it done. Though there is still no telling if director David O. Russell will return to helm the sequel after being nominated for an Oscar for the first film.
Russell and Wahlberg are already putting together what may be their next project, The Silver Linings Playbook based on Matthew Quick’s novel centering on a former teacher (Wahlberg), who after spending four years in a mental institution moves back in with his mother and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. It was revealed earlier this morning that Angelina Jolie is scheduled to meet with Russell to potentially play the wife.
Wahlberg has already finished filming the thriller Contraband for director Baltasar Kormakur, which is expected to hit theaters next March as well as Ted for Seth MacFarlane, which is set to hit theaters next July and centers on a man and his teddy bear, who comes to life as the result of a childhood wish. He was previously rumored to play the title role in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, also for Russell, but Russell recently dropped out of that project and it is assumed Wahlberg has as well.
So, if what I’m looking at makes sense, Wahlberg and Russell could move to The Silver Linings Playbook next and after that begin work on The Fighter 2. Just below is the video from the Guy’s Choice Awards, but be warned, the language is not safe for work.
