Mickey Rourke is racing against time to shoot and release his new mafia movie The Ice Man - because the book's author is dying.
Rourke plays real life assassin Richard Kuklinski in the film, based on Philip Carlo's 2006 book.
Carlo, who shares a producer credit with Rourke, suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, which is slowly destroying his nervous system.
And Rourke is desperate to finish filming before the writer succumbs to the disease.
He tells the New York Post, "(The biggest challenge is) getting it released in time. He doesn't have much time."
The Ice Man is scheduled to be shot in New York, New Jersey and Florida next Spring (10).
Mickey Rourke has seen his career flourish this year after the success of The Wrester at the beginning of 2009, which saw him nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.
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