‘Wrestler’ Officially Headed For Oscar Push, Less Vulgar Promotional Art

After The Wrestler’s more-than-well-received premiere last week in Venice, where star Mickey Rourke was forewarned that Oscar would likely forbid his puppy onstage next February, word out of Toronto confirms that Darren Aronofsky’s drama was picked up over the weekend by the awards-season whizzes at Fox Searchlight. The sale went down for about $4 million and all but assures Rourke of a Best Actor nomination if not a win, similar to the arc following Searchlight’s push on Forest Whitaker’s behalf for The Last King of Scotland. So early congrats to him. But there’s still work to do, as we’ve discovered after the jump.
The critical accolades to date suggest the campaign will only expand from there, perhaps starting with revisions to the publicity stills currently circulating in the trades. After all, we know Oscar voters love a comeback story, but rarely against the backdrop of slogans invoking the sucking of “a fat dick.” Don’t take our word for it, though; see above where The Hollywood Reporter got burned, Variety drew the line, and where a better tomorrow begins today with a little bit of Photoshop and a whole lot of love.

• ‘The Wrestler’ wins Venice’s Golden Lion [THR]
• Fox Searchlight pins ‘Wrestler’ [Variety]