Pittsburgh, Dec. 17, 2010 – The best boxing movie of all time? That’s what Sports Illustrated thinks about “The Fighter,” the biopic produced by Burns White clients Keith Dorrington and Leslie Varrelman.
Sports Illustrated tops its story by putting stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale on the Dec. 20 cover in a case of perfect timing for the film, which opened Dec. 17 in wide release nationally and also earned Golden Globe Awards® nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and two for Best Supporting Actress, along with Screen Actors Guild Awards® nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress (two nominations) and Best Ensemble Acting.
Dorrington, who also received a “Story By” credit from the Writer’s Guild, first started filming protagonists Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund in 1999 and eventually sold the story to Paramount Pictures. Paramount attached Wahlberg who refused to let the film die for more than a decade, overcoming casting changes (Matt Damon and Brad Pitt were both attached and dropped out) and budgeting problems (Paramount ultimately sold production to Relativity, which cut the budget from $70 million to $22 million). Now, almost 12 years after Dorrington first saw the story that would become “The Fighter,” the movie is being released to substantial Oscar buzz.
Click here to learn more about the film and its long and difficult road to the big screen – and congratulations again to Burns White clients Keith Dorrington and Leslie Varrelman.