Mark Wahlberg championed The Fighter for years until it was finally made, so it’s no surprise how attached he is to the story; so attached in fact that he told Mario “A.C. Slater” Lopez of Extra that he wants to do a sequel that revolves around “Irish” Mickey Ward‘s three fights against Arturo Gatti that took place after the events in the first movie. [Cinema Blend]
There was a video of Wahlberg stating this, but it has been taken down. Luckily for us, Katey Rich was awesome enough to pull the quote out, so here it is below:
“Now we’re gonna talk about doing No. 2. We’re gonna do the Ward /Gatti trilogy and make it real.”
Look, I loved The Fighter as much as everyone else did, but let’s call a spade a spade; it was Christian Bale‘s portrayal of Dicky Eklund and Eklund’s battle with crack addiction that made that movie work as more than just a
“boxing movie.” This one seems like it’d shift the focus more on Ward, and while Wahlberg was certainly good in the role, the character itself wasn’t the driving force. Take the family aspect out, and you lose the punch (no pun inte…okay, yeah I intended that). I’m not taking away from Micky Ward or anything like that; I just think that one was enough.
But with it’s success, Wahlberg may have the ability to pull off getting a sequel made, especially if he can keep his good pal David O. Russell in the director’s chair. I just don’t think it’s necessary, unless they go crazy and put Ward up against Rocky Balboa. That, I’d watch.
Is a sequel to The Fighter something you’d wanna see or are you good with just the one?