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IGN has learned from reliable sources that there is now a director set to step into the ring for The Fighter, a fact-based boxing drama that will reteam Departed co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon.
We have learned that Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) will helm the Paramount drama. The pic is expected to be the next project for both Wahlberg and Damon, with filming slated to commence in Massachusetts this summer.
Both Paramount and Aronofsky's reps at CAA had no comment.
Darren Aronofsky is in talks to direct Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon in boxing drama "The Fighter" for Paramount Pictures. Pic would mark Aronofsky's second studio project. Sci-fi romancer "The Fountain" fell flat at the box office when Warner Bros. Pictures released it last fall.
Project is based on the rise of Boston boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, who nabbed the world lightweight title with the help of his once down-and-out half-brother Dicky, who became a trainer.
While Par would look for Aronofsky to turn in a pic with broad appeal, he isn't necessarily expected to take a traditional approach.
Wahlberg and Damon are ready to commit to making "Fighter" their next movie if they like a rewrite that scribe Paul Attanasio is doing. If the two thesps give their OK, lensing could begin in early summer in Massachusetts.
