The bell will ring for ‘The Fighter’ at AFI Fest
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‘The Fighter,’ one of the most anticipated but shrouded-in-mystery movies of the fall, is unexpectedly coming out of the shadows.
AFI Fest said Tuesday morning that it has slotted the David O. Russell boxing drama into its secret Hollywood screening at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, playing for the public more than a month ahead of its Dec. 10 release. Pass-holders to the festival will be granted access to the screening, as will non-pass-holders who make ticket reservations at the box office or on the AFI website.
The movie is one of the final remaining fall dramas yet to screen for audiences (the movie did not play any fall festivals and has not screened for media; its first scheduled screening of any kind of was to be a Screen Actors Guild event Wednesday night).
The movie stars Mark Wahlberg as the underdog prizefighter “Irish” Micky Ward, a working-class Boston boxer who came to prominence in the 1990s and early ‘00s in part for his endurance skills and in part for a left hook that saw him defeat larger and sometimes more skilled opponents. Ward is perhaps best known for a trio of brutal and dramatic fights with rival Arturo Gatti. He also had a complicated relationship with half-brother Dickie Eklund, played in the movie by Christian Bale.
--Steven Zeitchik
