Warrior is a 2011 American action drama film about mixed martial arts released on September 9, 2011 by Lionsgate. It stars Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Justin Berg, Jennifer Morrison, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling combatant Kurt Angle. The film was directed by Gavin O'Connor and produced by Greg O'Connor.
Plot
Two brothers face the fight of a lifetime - and the wreckage of their broken family - within the brutal, high-stakes world of mixed martial arts. An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovering alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives
Cast
* Joel Edgerton as Brendan Conlon
* Tom Hardy as Tom Conlon
* Jennifer Morrison as Tess Conlon
* Frank Grillo as Frank Campana
* Nick Nolte as Paddy Conlon
* Kurt Angle as Koba
* Jake McLaughlin as Mark Bradford
* Fernando Chien as Fenroy
* Noah Emmerich as Dan Taylor
* Kevin Dunn as Joe Zito
* Denzel Whitaker as Student
* Maximiliano Hernández as Colt Boyd
* Erik Apple as Mad Dog
* Vanessa Martinez as Pilar Fernandez
* Nate Marquardt as Karl Kruller
* Anthony Johnson as Orlando 'Midnight' Lee
* Bryan Callen as Bryan Callen
* Josh Zodrow as Legs Mahoney
* Sam Sheridan as Sam Sherida
Production
Mogul Minds Studios, (now 31st Street Studios), located in Pittsburgh, was used during the filming, as well as the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center and the Twin Hi-Way Drive-In. North Hills High School was also used for some interior scenes. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City was used for the exterior scenes of the main fight venue, along with scenes filmes on the boardwalk and beach.
Hardy went through a demanding training routine for gaining muscle during the film's pre-production, gaining around 28 pounds of muscle and raising his overall weight to 205 pounds (a physique which he also used to portray Bane in The Dark Knight Rises).
Additional filming was shot at the former West Virginia State Penitentiary, located in Moundsville, West Virginia.
Additional scenes were shot around the historic Pitt Hotel and Restaurant in McDonald, Pennsylvania.
Marketing
The Men of Warrior book was released on July 19, 2011.Lionsgate's "We Are All Warriors" project to support the release of Warrior by highlighting everyday heroes was launched August 1, 2011.