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Christian Bale Getting Ready to Shoot The Fighter Very Soon

by Alex Billington
June 23, 2009
Source: Collider

In April we all found out that the former Darren Aronofsky boxing project The Fighter would instead be directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) and that Christian Bale had joined the cast as Dicky Eklund opposite Mark Wahlberg. What we didn't know, however, is how soon it would go into production, especially since the project has been moving very slowly up until this point. But while out promoting Public Enemies, Bale told Collider that they "might start [shooting] within a couple of weeks." Even though his first answer to if it was actually going to happen was a much less confident, "I hope it is."

Bale explains what The Fighter is about: "It's a true story of two incredibly gifted boxers who were half brothers. The one, Dicky Ecklund, who fought Sugar Ray Leonard at a very young age, when he was twenty one, was an incredible natural talent. He lived a very hard life. Then he came to train his brother, Irish Mickey Ward, to the world title." Bale will play Dicky, while Wahlberg will play "Irish" Mickey.

The reason why he's hoping it's ready is because he's been training. "There's nothing like boxing for getting you in shape," Bale joked, explaining that he literally is just boxing in order to get in shape for his role as a boxer. "It's a wonderful thing when your trainer is actually the person you're playing." How's that for a bit of preparation and research all wrapped into one. I was looking forward to this much more when Aronofsky was set to direct, but with Bale and Wahlberg, its still one of my most highly anticipated upcoming projects. I'm with Bale on this - I hope they get it into production sooner than later - no more unnecessary delays!

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adi

1st -yeah...love christian bale..don't mess with his lights tho if you're not professional.
Bo

Wouldn't it seem a bit strange Aronofsky directing this, since his four films are so plotwise different? One of my most highly anticipated upcominga is Leaves of Grass with Edward Norton in a double role. Hope there will be some more news about this one soon.
Felix

Wonder if he's going to use the same voice he used for both Batman and Terminator. Seriously, the fact that he used the Batman voice (sometimes ofc, when he forgot he was playing in a futuristic post-doomsday movie) in Terminator ruined most of his otherwise pretty good role.
SlashBeast

If Aronofsky did this film right after The Wrestler it would have seemed like too much of the same. Not to keen on Wahlberg but Bale is insanely talented, it'll be interesting to see how this turns out.
James

Christian Bale should stop being in every freaking movie. I am starting to get annoyed with every moving coming out has this guy in it. But If they were do a reboot of Dazed and Confused he'd be a great fit for the Character Fred O'Bannion (Ben A fleck's role).
LINKFX

He didn't use the Batman voice in Terminator Salvation. He should have used that grizzled voice from Terminator in the Batman films, then it would have been a lot easier to understand him as Batman, not that I have a problem with his voice. Also, I love that he is getting a lot of roles. He is a great actor and unfortunately he is at his peak, and isn't getting the awesome unique roles that he should be getting. Looking at his past works, he should be using his newfound clout to get some more unique projects like "The Machinist" and "American Psycho" off the ground and running.
Governor

@ #5 What are you talking about? The only movies Christian Bale is appearing in are The Fighter and Public Enemies and he's still only in talks for Killing Pablo. How is he been appearing in every movie coming out?
SuicidalOptimist

Mmmm...that picture. /swoon I imagine him yelling at me and saying "fuck" a lot. Nothing sexier than a hot guy swearing like a sailor. *fans self*
Jesse

I cant wait until David O. Russell and Bale get in a fight on set. Bale is going to knock him out
Cat

Well see if terminator brings him down since it flopped.
jono

hey cat up above t4 is at 320 million after 25 days it only flop in america because they dont have a clue paul fucking blart mall cop as made more money in the usa that it in a nut shell
xerxex

Sounds great. But what is with that pic of him...wow, love the guy not the pic. #11 I concur!
Cat

@jono Cmon you know the movie was weak. I went to see it a week and a half after it came out and there was ten people there. I liked it (besides the script) but could have been so much better and bale wasn't very good.
SlashBeast

@ # 10 If Terminator wasn't a good film, it wasn't because of Christian Bale. It was the script, the plot adn the director. And anyway, I highly doubt that Terminator will bring down his career. Just take a look at the movies he's attached to.
Squiggly

That is the worst photo of bale I've ever seen. Please replace it with any other photo or bale. I mean, just look at him. You can tell he didn't even want to do that pose - whatever the fuck sort of pose it is. His eyes are like "fuck me, this is fucking stupid... fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck... unprofessional..." Seriously, tho, that photo is bad...
Cat

Ever since his rant on set of filming terminator he has nothing but bad news coming his way. Terminator flopping, Nolan maybe not coming back for batman etc...
http://twitter.com/nickgligor Nick Gligor

Actually, Sqiuggly... that photo is lifted from Bale's recent feature article from GQ magazine. The pictures were all taken in a tongue-in-cheek manner like that because they were making fun of his Terminator set blow-up. He's well aware of the situation's high profile and goes on to make fun of it himself, too. This piece included a cover photo where Bale is -quite literally- screaming right into the camera. So that is exactly the idea they were going for. Therefore, no need to change the photo. The article and the pictures are here: http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_9177
Squiggly

well, then... in context it's actually quite amusing. Thanks for letting me know. I don't tend to follow celebrity news and stuff, so I probably miss a lot of stuff. I only really give a crap about the films themselves and the craft in general. The only reason I even knew about the on-set yelling thing was because of an animation contest thing that resulted: http://splinedoctors.com/2009/04/bale-contest-winners/
Glass

@ 16 First of all, Terminator only flopped in North America, it's been doing far better overseas. Secondly, The whole "Nolan is not coming back" thing is seriously just the internet going out of control with rumors. The Dark Knight only came out a year ago, give it time. Plus, I highly doubt his career is over because of those two factors. He's got a main role in Public Enemies, this film and is in talks for several other films.
dexter

Those who says Bale is so and so...shut it. Secretly deep down you like the guys as an actor everybody does. Cos he's a sincere actor Just b'cos one of his movie came up below expectations that doesn't mean he's down and out...Bale is and will always will be a sincere, dedicated and hard working actor among Hollywood giants.