Bullock was the driving force in trying to get the boxing movie made for years, but when it did finally get the green light, she was already committed to other projects. "We had Million Dollar Baby with someone else for a while, trying to get it made. I couldn't get it made. We tried and tried and tried," the Irish Examiner quoted her as saying. "I then started doing Miss Congeniality 2 and they got Hilary (Swank) and they got Clint [Eastwood]."