Mickey Rourke wires 'Wrestler'

Aronofsky is directing indie drama

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Mickey Rourke is getting into the ring with "The Wrestler," the indie drama that Darren Aronofsky will direct in January.

Rourke will play Randy "The Ram" Robinson," a role that Nicolas Cage had reportedly been set to play. There was no word Sunday as to why he had left the project.

Aronofsky and Robert Siegel wrote the script for "The Wrestler," about an over-the-hill grappler who returns to the ring for one last shot at glory.

Rourke, who once took time away from his screen career to become a boxer, has been enjoying a film resurgence that began with "Man on Fire" and "Sin City." He wrapped the John Madden-directed "Killshot," and is currently starring in the ensemble of "The Informers," a Gregor Jordan-directed adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel.