Mark Wahlberg was serious about this, huh? Last month, the actor joked with Mario Lopez about plans for a sequel to his highly successful passion project, The Fighter -- or at least it seemed like a joke. Wahlberg has gone on record again about The Fighter 2, and like Micky Ward doesn't seem ready to back down. "I got bit by the bug, and now I'm trying to plant the idea in everyone's head that we should do -- not five or six Fighters like Rocky -- but one more because the big thing that Micky Ward was famous for was his three epic battles with Arturo Gatti," he tells EW. "So we're talking about possibly taking one more run at it." Oh, no. Won't someone stop this fight before it gets ugly?
This is not to throw too much water on Wahlberg's hopes and dreams for a future Fighter film -- after all, it sounds like wishful thinking more than anything else -- just that a sequel to The Fighter is kind of a bad idea. Five kinds, in fact.
1. It's always better to go out on top
Some naysayers aside, The Fighter was a really great movie -- one which managed to strike a perfect balance between mawkish crowd-pleaser and gritty character piece. It won two Oscars, grossed nearly $100 million at the box office, and scored a Best Picture nomination. It also resurrected the career of David O. Russell, and unleashed Melissa Leo on unsuspecting Oscar watchers. In short, The Fighter has been a cultural juggernaut since its release in December. Is there any way a sequel could ever live up to those lofty goals? If the laws of sequels have taught us anything, it's that the chances of The Fighter 2 exceeding its predecessor are slim to none. To put it in pugilist terms: No one wants to see a once-great fighter stay in the ring for too long.
2. It's impossible to catch lightning in a bottle again
Consider this an offshoot of "going out on top." While Mark Wahlberg somewhat carried The Fighter on his broad-yet-understated shoulders, the fuel for his engine was provided by Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Their Oscar-winning performances were the type of live-wire high-wire acts that come around once every few years, and are usually impossible for actor's to replicate -- let alone to replicate in the same role. Plus, it remains to be seen if Leo's Oscar-season histrionics will affect the way people view her take on Alice Ward in the future. Which makes you wonder if...
3. The novelty will wear off
Seriously. Does watching Leo and Bale (and Amy Adams) chew scenery like a grizzled piece of meat for a second time sound appealing to anyone? If I wanted to see them do that again, I would just re-watch The Fighter for a fifth time.
4. Not including the Ward-Gatti trilogy made the film stand out
One of my favorite parts of The Fighter, is that it didn't feature the fights that made Micky Ward somewhat famous. That subverted expectations and helped keep The Fighter original -- what underdog sports film doesn't include the big fight? -- while not robbing fans of a feel-good story. A sequel would sorta cut that off at the knees.
5. Sequels always cost more money
This is really the big one. The Fighter took years to make, and had its budget slashed to a fraction of what was originally envisioned. The film had a happy ending, of course, but does doubling down on something that will likely cost more money to make -- yet isn't a guaranteed box office success -- seem wise? The answer you're looking for is no.