According to Deadline, Hugh Jackman and acclaimed director Michael Mann are joining forces to tell the story of Ferrari, based on Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari.
The film will, per the report, “chart the summer of 1957 when all the forces in Ferrari’s life – which were often as combustible and volatile as the iconic race cars he built – collided. The now legendary car company he and his wife Laura built was at the time going broke. Their tempestuous marriage had already suffered the death of their son, Dino, and Ferrari’s other son, 12-year old Piero, the product of a wartime romance, was struggling to find his place in the world.” In a last gasp for glory, Ferrari took a chance on the 1957 Mille Miglia race, which spanned 1,000 miles across Italy. The film will allegedly build a storyline around the race, during which Laura learns important secrets, “and drivers, who are like surrogate sons, are pushed beyond the edge.”
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Mann, who executive produced Ford vs Ferrari, which featured Enzo (played by Remo Girone), has long yearned to make the film, and has recently reworked the script originally penned by the late Troy Kennedy Martin.
“The real power of this piece is in the emotionally charged lives of these people in complex, extreme circumstances. In addition, there is the explosive power and lethal beauty of racing. It has a great drama at its core and that’s why Ferrari stayed with me,” Mann told Deadline.
Mann will provide a virtual presentation of the project to potential buyers during Tuesday’s Cannes virtual market.
Also noteworthy, Mann, who is a friend of the Ferrari family, plans to build a fleet of replica race cars for the flick. He and Jackman have apparently began reading through some of the film’s most potent scenes.
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Mann’s last big screen directorial feature arrived way back in 2015 with the Chris Hemsworth vehicle Blackhat. His more notable credits include the classic films Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Ali, Collateral and Manhunter.
Hugh Jackman was last seen in Bad Education and is busy filming The Good Spy for director Baltasar Kormákur and Reminsicence with Lisa Joy.
