Mark Wahlberg Confirms ‘The Fighter 2′

Today we have a video clip from the upcoming Spike TV Guys Choice Awards, where The Fighter won an award for “Guy Movie of the Year”. Taking to the stage with Russell and the real life Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale’s character), Wahlberg used the platform as an appropriate launch pad to announce The Fighter sequel:

“We left out the Aturo Gatti fights for a reason…Because that’s for ‘Fighter 2′. We’re not going to do ‘Fighter’ 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, but we’re gonna do 2. We’re gonna do the Ward/Gatti trilogy.”

Mark Wahlberg Thanks The Troops, Talks "The Fighter 2" Plans
Tags: Mark Wahlberg Thanks The Troops, Talks "The Fighter 2" Plans

The Fighter was one of the best movies of 2010, and also one of most (pleasantly) surprising. Many expected a traditional sports drama biopic, but instead, quirky auteur David O. Russell delivered a darkly funny look at the life and rise of middleweight boxer “Irish” Micky Ward to the status of champion in the early 2000s.

However, boxing fans know that Micky’s rise to champion was only the beginning of his story – which is why Fighter star Mark Wahlberg let it be known early this past spring that The Fighter 2 was in the works.

Since that initial reveal by Wahlberg, The Fighter 2 has been gradually veering into the fast-track. First we learned that Wahlberg was pushing the project ahead, with plans to reprise his role as Ward; soon after that, we learned that David O. Russell was interested in at least writing the project (if not returning to direct).