Micky Ward Movie Gets Ready to Shoot In October. Will it Shoot In Lowell?

After two years in development, Mark Wahlberg and Darren Aronofsky’s long gestating boxing biopic on underdog champion Irish Micky Ward is finally going to begin shooting in October, the star told MTV News.

“I’ve been training for two years now. I’m ready,” he said. “I want to look like a champ, not a chump.”

But Mark Wahlberg has more than just a few moves to his credit these days, he’s also got a healthy dose of fighting words for anybody who thinks that what the world needs least right now is another boxing movie.

Yes, there have been many classic movies to center on the sport, Wahlberg admits, and, yes, he told us last year, he’d of course like it to hold up to “Raging Bull,” the undisputed champion of the genre.

But ultimately, his performance as Micky Ward in “The Fighter” is for an audience of one, he said smiling — Micky Ward.

“I want to do him proud. The guy did everything I wish I could have done. He came from nothing, went on to win the world title with all the odds stacked against him. Did it with his mother and his brother,” Wahlberg grinned. “He’s still in the same town to this day. He’s got a regular job. He knows that I’m going to put it all on the line for him. Mickey Ward is going to be [on set, watching me] every single day.”

Co-starring Brad Pitt, “The Fighter” will follow Ward and his brother from their beginnigs in Lowell, Massachusetts to their world championship bouts. It is tentatively scheduled for release next year.