Amy Adams could star with Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in the David O. Russell-directed drama The Fighter, Variety reports. She’s in negotiations to play a gritty bartender who ends up dating Wahlberg’s character, “Irish” Mickey Ward; the film, which begins shooting this summer, tells the story of Ward’s journey from the streets of Lowell, Mass., to the world lightweight championship with the help of his brother, played by Bale.
Source: Entertainment Weekly

Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham spotted taking a stroll in Santa Monica, Califoria.

GALLERY LINKS:
• Candids from 2009 – 06-05 – In Santa Monica, CA

Happy belated birthday to Mark! He’s 38 years old.

Mark Wahlberg appears in good spirits as he leaves a Beverly Hills, CA medical building on May 28, 2009.

GALLERY LINKS:
• Candids from 2009 – 05-28 – Leaving the doctors office in Beverly Hills

Frozen River star Melissa Leo is poised to add The Fighter to her queue of roles following her Oscar nomination this year, according to Variety.
The movie will star Mark Wahlberg as a boxer and Christian Bale as his half-brother. Originally slated for director Darren Aronofsky as a kind of follow-up to The Wrestler, the movie will now be directed by David O. Russell, with plans to shoot this summer.

Leo will also star in the new David Simon/HBO series Treme and several other projects.
Source: Paste Magazine

On Saturday, May 30th, Boston Casting, a local feature film casting company, is holding an open casting call at the Lowell VFW Hall for a new Mark Wahlberg film, The Fighter. The casting call will be held from 10 am – 4 pm, and is open to union and non-union actors who are 18 years of age and older.

Most specifically, the casting company is looking for people that meet the following requirements for open roles in the film:

Everyone who attends the casting call must bring a headshot and resume or a current photo and biography to the audition.

The Fighter is a full feature movie that profiles the life of professional boxer Micky Ward, who is originally from Lowell, Massachusetts. Although the film was put on hold for some time, it was expected that it would reunite co-stars from The Departed, Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon.
Source: Lowell.com

I just uploaded pictures of Mark leaving Toast Restaurant in Los Angeles.

GALLERY LINKS:
• Candids from 2009 – 05-17 – Leaving Toast Restaurant [HQ]

Mark Wahlberg keeps his young daughter, Ella Wahlberg, wrapped up in his t-shirt as they leave Umberto Salon in West Hollywood, CA on May 8, 2009.

GALLERY LINKS:
• Candids from 2009 – 05-08 – Leaving Umberto Salon in West Hollywood

This may be the sternest film that goes into production this year — but given the names involved, it will probably be one of the best. Variety is reporting that Christian Bale has joined Mark Wahlberg for “The Fighter,” and that David O. Russell may be along to direct the grim, tense ride.

“The Fighter” is the true life tale of Boston fighter “Irish” Mickey Ward (played by Wahlberg), who was coached to the world lightweight championship by his half-brother, Dicky Eklund (played by Bale). After suffering a number of defeats, Ward was ready to retire until pushed back into the ring by his brother. (Read full story …)

For all the violence and grief of The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson believes the movie adaptation need not be a downer.

In fact, he says, the film version of Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel about teenager Susie Salmon, who watches from heaven as her family collapses after her murder, is downright uplifting.

“I found the book to be curiously optimistic,” Jackson says by e-mail from New Zealand, where he’s finishing the film. “I felt inspired by Susie’s struggle to come to terms with her own death. In the face of overwhelming grief, she finds hope.

“She holds on to love, and by doing so, she transcends the horror of her murder.”

Don’t expect Lord of the Rings-style special effects to create a nether world, Jackson says. The film, which stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie and Stanley Tucci as her killer, proved one of Jackson’s toughest, particularly scenes of the child’s afterlife.

“It’s God-less in the sense that when Susie dies, she finds herself caught in a place between Earth and heaven — she is in an ‘In-Between,’ as Alice Sebold calls it.” When she moves on, “we’re happy for audiences to imagine this new world in whatever way makes them comfortable.”
Source: USA Today

RUSSELL Crowe has driven a stake through speculation American actor Mark Wahlberg will play Koby Abberton in a movie about the Bra Boy leader and his brothers.

While Abberton was keen on the idea when it was first floated last year, Crowe – who will co-produce the film – has insisted that it must be true to Australia.

“Why would you do that?” Crowe told UK Sky News yesterday of the Wahlberg rumour.

“That’s like asking Gary Oldman to be in Romper Stomper – it takes away from one of the important things about it. (Read full story …)