Mark Wahlberg thinks of his new film 'The Fighter' as his "baby".

The 39-year-old hunk - who has appeared in a number of big movies including 'Boogie Nights' and 'The Departed' throughout his career - confesses his favourite film to have worked on was the upcoming David O. Russell sports drama because the story of Micky Ward is "very real"

He said: "This became my baby and, you know, four and a half years of trying to get this movie made.

"It's the best story that I've been apart of and we made the best possible version of the movie by bringing David O. Russell onboard to rewrite it and to direct it. We always knew that it was a great drama, but there's a lot of humour as well as emotion, and obviously, you know, Micky Ward goes against all odds and wins the title. But it's very real, it's a special movie."

The Oscar-nominated star also said a trailer for the film - which also stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams - would be released soon.

He told Collider.com: "You'll see a trailer fairly soon. We're going to a marketing meeting at the end of this month. I've already seen one cut of a trailer and everybody is just super excited about the movie. It's coming out on 10 December. So, we're excited."