HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Brad Pitt is in discussions to co-star with Mark Wahlberg in the big-screen boxing drama "The Fighter," Paramount Pictures announced.
The film is about real-life Massachusetts boxer Irish Micky Ward (played by South Boston native Wahlberg) and his unlikely path to become world lightweight champion.
Pitt is in talks to play Dicky Eklund, Micky's half-brother and a talented fighter who once went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard in a title fight but turned to crime and spent several years in prison.
Eklund later turned his life around and helped his underperforming brother in his bid for the world title, Paramount said.
The movie will be directed by "The Fountain" and "Requiem for a Dream" director Darren Aronofsky.
Pitt replaces Matt Damon, who had been attached to the project but dropped out because of scheduling conflicts, Variety.com reported Friday.
Pitt and Damon previously worked together in the "Ocean’s Eleven" trilogy. "The Fighter" would have reunited Damon with Wahlberg, his co-star in "The Departed."
