According to Mark Wahlberg, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fighter will begin filming this October. Awesome. You may remember that the film, a biopic on badass pugilist “Irish” Micky Ward, gained considerable traction in the press last year when Wahlberg and others compared it to a “new Raging Bull.” Brad Pitt later signed on to co-star as Ward’s brother/trainer, which was a welcome surprise after his casting debacle on Aronofsky’s The Fountain.
“I’ve been training for two years now. I’m ready,” Wahlberg told MTV. “I want to look like a champ, not a chump. …I want to do [Ward] proud. The guy did everything I wish I could have done. He came from nothing, went on to win the world title with all the odds stacked against him.”
Ward fought throughout the mid-’80s and ’90s, but he’s best remembered for three battles with Arturo Gotti in the early Oughts, two of which went down as the greatest in the history of the sport. Ward lost each one, but, well click here for a surreal refresher. Earlier this year, Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) wrapped up filming on the white trash indie epic, The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke (release date TBA), so if all goes as planned, we’ll be getting one helluva manly double feature to convert us into jittery pacifists. Somebody combine the Requiem for a Dream score with the YouTube link above to induce insta-goosebumps.
Wahlberg also updated on The Departed 2…
“They’re [still] developing it,” Wahlberg sighed. “If it can be better than the first, then great. I’ll be all for it. I’m not interested in going for the paycheck. I love ‘Godfather 2’ but, then again, I don’t like ‘Godfather 3.’”
Everybody wants to be The Godfather 2 these days, eh? Nothing revelatory in the quote above, but he also mentions the possibility of a Departed 3 (a prequel a la Infernal Affairs 2) as well…
“We may do another one, because it’s based on a Hong Kong film ['Infernal Affairs'], and there is a trilogy. So we may do a sequel with a new cast, and a prequel and bring back the rest of the guys…”
That would make for some heavy dream team assembling.
Discuss: Can Aronofsky/Wahlberg/Pitt reach the greatness of Raging Bull? Against tough odds, Infernal Affairs was a solid trilogy—do you think The Departed 2 and The Departed 3 will ever happen?
June 30th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I never take when actors compare the work they’re in to another great film. Because they’re usually off. I’m also pretty sure Aranofsky never described this new film of his like this either. But I am very excited to see it.
While I loved The Departed. These sequels are going to be a bad move.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I’m not sure about another Departed. It’s gonna be just marky mark, so i have no idea how they could do anything with it, unless alec baldwin really stars.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I am willing to sit back and just enjoy anything Aranofsky throws at me… I really like the cut of his jib.
Departed sequels are a HUGE mistake. HUGE.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Good write up, looking forward to The Fighter, eh not so much The Departed, but who knows what they could do with it. I’m ready and willing to be surprised.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I agree Jonny, huge mistake for departed sequels..
June 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
The Departed is perfect. They need to stop with this sequel business.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I could see it working. Dignam is an interesting character and we still have Alec Baldwin’s character around as well. The prequel I’m not seeing.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
The Departed is not a franchise. Its one movie. Almost everyone dies and what’s the point in a prequel? To show how Costello turned into…Costello? Now the Fighter, Darren’s work is great. I’ll go see his stuff any day.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
white trash indie epic
June 30th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Wait, that still from Boogie Nights does not look right.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
The Departed sequels will be just as pointless just like the original Hong Kong-Infernal Affairs sequels. If you haven’t seen the original Infernal Affairs film, you must be living under a f’n rock.
The Departed is an awesome remake of the original but combining the two females characters from the Hong Kong version into one in The Departed was the dumbest mistake. Overall, good film. Sequels, bad mistake.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Wouldnt this be money better spent on a a prequel to ” no cuntry for old men”…/ It won an oscar++!
June 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Glad to hear the Fighter is still going to happen…
Pitt seems to only be attaching himself to stellar pieces so I think it will be a great movie.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
They’ve made huge mistake…..
June 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
a*
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Micky Ward BEAT Gatti in the first fight.
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
sequels for the departed should be made just for the simple fact that the originals were a trilogy set. i think if departed 2 is written up though that should be the prequel just to follow a similar style to the infernal affairs trilogy, then have a fresh new screenplay for the 3rd departed. i’d love to see frank costello’s rise to power, more of sullivan’s life with costello too in the prequel that’d be a great idea to start from.