Mickey Rourke Replaces Nicolas Cage in 'The Wrestler'

Zap2It.com | November 12, 2007

Mickey Rourke booking photo

Darren Aronofsky will direct the indie

Fresh off one of the year's finest celebrity mug shots, Mickey Rourke is set to step in for Nicolas Cage in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler."

Variety offers no explanation for Cage's departure for the film, which Aronofsky wrote with Robert Siegel and will direct starting in January.

Rourke will now play a former wrestling star named Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Down on his luck already, Robinson suffers a heart attack and is told he can never wrestle again or he'll die. Even his new life -- working at a deli, living with an aging stripper and her son -- can't sway him from a rematch with his old nemesis The Ayatollah.

Best known for film roles ranging from "Diner" to "Wild Orchid" to "Domino," Rourke spent four years in the '90s getting his face bashed in as a professional boxer.

Rourke was arrested last week for driving under the influence in Miami. The actor's green Vespa was pulled over after making an illegal U-Turn and he allegedly failed a field sobriety test.