Of all the movies I never expected a sequel to, put THE FIGHTER on the list.
The movie tells a pretty convincing tale of boxer Micky Ward’s rise, fall, and second chance. If anyone think there was any real reason to see the movie outside the performances of Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, they are sorely mistaken. THE FIGHTER is certainly not ROCKY.
Mark Wahlberg, while doing press for CONTRABAND, was asked which of his characters he would revisit in a sequel if given the opportunity. His two answers were Micky Ward and Sean Dignam from THE DEPARTED.
Wahlberg specifically says that he would not view THE FIGHTER 2 as a sequel but rather its own story, telling the second part of the three fights Ward had with boxer Arturo Gatti. Seeing as Ward lost both the second and third fights, I don’t see any real cinema magic unless there was a really interesting subplot to them, likely involving his brother Dicky Eklund.