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FIRST LOOK

New Photos of Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler

by Alex Billington
August 11, 2008
Source: SlashFilm

A whole batch of new promo photos for Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler have just appeared, which makes me excited, but probably won't do much for anyone else. I'm very curious how this movie is going to be sold. I don't like wrestling in the least, but because Aronofsky directed it, I want to see it. But I think that wrestling factor is going to be a big one to get over. Even looking at these photos I imagine most people are going to be instantly turned off because it feels like a wrestling movie and I'm not sure that's what it is or that's what they want it to look like. The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke will premiere at the Venice Film Festival first before eventually showing at the Toronto Film Festival this September.

Thanks to SlashFilm for first debuting these photos. They're a big supporter of the film as well and I'll most likely be seeing The Wrestler for the first time with Peter from SlashFilm. I'm quite excited to see it, but still really don't know what to expect in the slightest. What are your thoughts?

Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler

Tells the story of retired professional wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, making his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.

The Wrestler is directed by indie filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, of Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain previously, with a script written by Robert D. Siegel, of only The Onion Movie previously. The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival this year and doesn't officially have a US distributor just yet.

Explore tags: First Look, Hype, Opinions

Spider

I'm interested in seeing this too. Good to see Mickey Rourke on the big screen again--and Marisa Tomei as a stripper, wow!
carlos

Dude this looks like..the Rocky of wrestling looks like an awesome wrestling drama or somethin
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

IDK Marisa was in this....and as a STRIPPER?!?!?! Now, I am there
Dustyman1505

Mickey Rourke makes the perfect professional wrestler. I just hope it shows how FAKE it is.
LW

As cool as this is, I feel sorry for Mickey. I mean... how old is the guy now? Toning up for the part must've been hell for him :/
dom

lovin that sign in the background in the second photo down. lol
DaVe!

He looks like Jerry Lynn
Derek

I'm really excited that Aronofsky is going to tackle an often overlooked portion of sports. If anybody else was going to make this movie, I would be skeptical, but I think that Aronofsky is a brilliant director , and I'm certain he won't disappoint.
Richard

I hate wrestling but i love Marissa Tomei so I'm gonna watch it. Oh btw, Derek did you just call professional wrestling sports? lol.
Derek

Hahaha, I knew someone was going to say that.
Bryan

Marissa Tomei is one of those rare women that just seems to keep getting more attractive...at least I think so.
Reverend

I can't stand wrestling, but I like Mickey Rourke and this looks interesting.
Kyle A. Koyote

I used to love wrestling, until it became all sex and garbage...but look at the 'golden' age of wrestling, when it used to be epic, good versus evil battles (granted scripted 'fake' battles) but anyone who doesn't respect wrestling needs to go and do some research. These guys get more beat up than most professional athletes, none of the respect, and very little pay. But, ranting aside, professional wrestling is a perfect background for a movie. It is high drama, in and out of the ring. I have been ridiculously excited about this movie since I first heard about it.
David

I hope they show how much pain wrestlers go threw in there career and show the difficult times a wrestler has because he/she is away from there family. Dustyman1505 Only the storylines are fake, these guys go threw so much pain NO you or i could go threw. You say Wrestling is fake, sorry to tell you this dude but Movies are the most fake form of entertainment you can watch (but i love them because stuff like that doesnt bother me) OH AND YES I'LL BE WATCHING IT lol.
thejugfather

i use to watch wrestling too but it's all about sex and glam now and really sucks as far as the sorty lines go. vinny mac destroyed a once great sport/entertainment machine. he had to be the big man on the block and now with no competition, excuse me REAL competition, to product has suffered tremendously. hopefully this movie will show the back story of wrestling and what thes men go through off camera as far as drugs and pain med addictions and how their lifestyle destroys families. might be worth a watch just to see that side of the business and seeing marisa as a stripper gets me all warm and fuzzy in the pants!
Bix

Where's the boardwalk shot from, Jersey Shore? Long Beach?
Andrew

"i use to watch wrestling too but it's all about sex and glam" Maybe in 1998.
vu

I like Aronofsky, but who gives a fuck about Rourke?
nunya

the idiots people have to put up with. Mickey Rourke makes the perfect professional wrestler. I just hope it shows how FAKE it is. Dustyman1505 on Aug 11, 2008
the best

if it's mostly about the lifestyle it should be good,if it's in ring stuff,i doubt it would be good,marissa is beautiful but sorry a hard on does not make for a good movie,unless it's porn yell http://www.myspace.com/panhandoelrcorp
You

The director of this movie is fantastic, so hopefully he'll open the eyes of any critics who actually care to watch. Wrestling has been called "fake" for years by many people who don't actually care to look into the subject. My hope is that this movie exposes the business, good and bad, and makes people realize that "fake" is a terrible term to use. Illustrating the many pains and gains and how passion drives (or doesn't) each of these athletes is something that could make this movie go very far. I'm hugely excited to see it.
chris k

this movie looks like it should be pretty interesting. Whether you like wrestling or not, it is irrelevant because it's a MOVIE. Anyone who thinks wrestling is fake, I DARE you to go to 1 wrestling training class and find out how fake it really is. You will leave humbled and humiliated...and quite possibly have pissed your pants amungst other things. This movie looks like it embraces all the things that are professional wrestling behind the scenes...like drugs and strippers. Hopefully it pulls it off so I can have a good laugh.
T

LOL @ The Necrobutcher sign in the background.
Ed B

It seems the main problem people have with wrestling is they don't know how to approach it. It is not a sport, and if you think that most wrestling fans are under such a delusion, then you are in fact the most ignorant one involved. It is not a sport, and it is not meant to be approached as a sport but as entertainment. You must look at it as though it were, odd of a comparison as it might seem, a play. Yes, it's real people performing in front of you, but it is scripted. Just because they (wrestlers) don't come out and bow at the end of every performance, though, doesn't mean they expect you to think it's real (storyline-wise). That being said, I am looking forward to this movie, and the Necrobutcher sign was indeed most amusing.
DL

Glad to see people making decent points. I've been involved in wrestling since '99. People are right in that, yeah, it isn't a real competition, but it most certainly isn't fake. Sad part is, it only seems to be the people involved and a small selection of hardcore fans who understand this. Why the average individual's world perspective has to be so polarized is intriguing and has actually taught me a lot about humanity. That's the kind of thing I hope the movie focuses on. I hope they don't pretend that it's completely legitimate like basically every other wrestling movie ever made -because that's patronizing- but instead showcase the legitimate physicality, injuries and psychological state of a lot of the people involved in the business. It's a very unique craft with a lot of devoted talent, it's about time a movie showcases that.
Duel

I love the, "I think that wrestling factor is going to be a big one to get over" part .... as if it's NOT the highest rated program on all of cable TV every week LOL You make it sound like wrestling is some obscure & unknown subculture... where in reality the top events sell 80,000 seats in huge stadiums, and TV ratings soar. It's a very well-accepted part of American culture by now, dude. Wake up. It's not called "The Dog Fighter" ...
jj

Does anyone else see any parallels with this movie and the story of "barton fink"?
Paul Vecchio

Mickey will always be The Pope Of Greenwich Village..