I can only assume Brad Pitt is taking Matt Damon‘s place in The Fighter alongside Mark Wahlberg because Paramount wanted to get the film rolling pre-strike and Damon just couldn’t make it work. However, it should be fun to watch Pitt and Wahlberg in the same film about boxer Irish Mickey Ward and his unlikely path to become world lightweight champion. What makes this an even better story is that Darren Aronofsky is directing. Yeah, you love it don’t yah?
Pitt is in negotiations to play Dicky Eklund, Mickey’s half-brother and a talented fighter who once went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard in a title fight but then turned to crime and landed in prison. Then he turned his life around and helped his underperforming brother find the spark for a remarkable run that led to the world title.
There is no word on an exact start date, but it is expected to begin lensing once Pitt completes State of Play with Ed Norton for Universal, which is on track for a November start.
Scott Silver is working on the latest draft of the script.
