Pumping Iron is really a 1977 documentary film about the run-up to the 1975 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition. The film focuses on his competitors and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and Franco Columbu. The documentary has been co-directed by Robert Fiore and George Butler. It was on the basis of the publication of the exact same name by Charles Gaines and George Butler (Simon and Schuster, 1974).