Development Scout Productions acquired the
life rights of boxer
Micky Ward and his brother,
Dick Eklund, in July 2003. Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy were also hired to write the screenplay, which was rewritten by
Lewis Colick.
Matt Damon was also considered for the role of Micky Ward.
Mark Wahlberg joined the production in early 2005,
The Fighter had been a longtime passion project for Wahlberg, who was a fan of Ward's since his youth growing up in Boston.
Paramount Pictures, the United States distributor of the film, hired
Paul Attanasio to rewrite Collick's draft in February 2007 in an attempt to emphasize the themes of brotherhood and redemption. Hoping to start production in Massachusetts in June 2007, Wahlberg had
Martin Scorsese read the screenplay, hoping he would direct. Scorsese turned down the offer, finding the Massachusetts-setting redundant after having finished
The Departed (2006).
Darren Aronofsky was hired to direct in March 2007, with
Scott Silver rewriting the script in September 2007. Attanasio was brought back in as a
script doctor film prior to shooting. Damon signed on to play Dick Eklund, but he later dropped out due to commitments to other projects and was replaced with
Brad Pitt. Production proceeded with filming set to begin October 2008 followed by
Black Swan (2010). At one point,
Catherine Hardwicke expressed interest in directing, but was told by producers the film had to be directed by a man. Wahlberg and Bale chose
David O. Russell as Aronofsky's replacement. Wahlberg had also starred in Russell's
Three Kings (1999) and
I Heart Huckabees (2004). In April 2009,
Relativity Media stepped up to entirely finance the film, selling the international distribution rights to
the Weinstein Company (TWC) a month later.
The Fighter began principal photography on July 13, 2009, in a 33-day
shooting schedule.
Filming Principal photography took place on location in Ward's hometown of
Lowell,
Massachusetts. Its boxing matches were shot at the
Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, and gym scenes at Arthur Ramalho's West End Gym, one of the real-life facilities where Ward had trained. The boxing-match footage was created "in big, choreographed sections that were taken directly from [video of] Micky's actual fights", said Russell. "And we used the actual commentary from [HBO's]
Larry Merchant,
Roy Jones Jr., and
Jim Lampley." Russell used "[t]he actual cameras from that era. [They were] a sort of
Beta [video-format] camera that gave a very certain look, and we actually hired the director from HBO and his crew who had done those fights"
Comparison to actual events • The film has Ward on a losing streak coming into the 1988 Mike Mungin fight. In reality, Ward was 18–1 and on a four-fight winning streak when he fought Mungin. Ward's four-fight losing streak actually took place in 1990–91. • In the film, Ward is knocked down in round six of the Neary fight. In reality, Ward was not knocked down in that fight. • The film has Ward's career record as 30–7, with 20 KOs, as he fights Neary. In reality, his record at that time was 34–9 with 25 KOs. • The film depicts Ward taking a severe beating in the Mungin fight. In reality, the fight went the full ten rounds and Mungin won by very narrow decision: 96–93, 95–94, 95–94. • In the film, during Ward's fight with Alfonso Sanchez, which took place on April 4, 1997, Ward's entrance song is "The Warrior's Code" by
Dropkick Murphys. However, that song was not released until 2005 on their album of the same name. ==Release==