You can add another title to the stack of proposed Michael Mann projects we may or may not see. Variety broke the news that the director is nearing a deal with 20th Century Fox to helm the car racing feature Go Like Hell.
The film would tell the true story of the 1960s rivalry between Ford and Ferrari that culminated with Ford’s GT40 becoming the first car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The script’s human element focuses on Henry Ford II, who leads a team of gearheads set on reinventing the Ford Motor Co. by entering the high-stakes world of European car racing.
The story essentially sounds like The Fast and the Furious meets Miracle, but I’m always up for seeing an untold, or at least largely unexplored, story brought to the big screen. There are no casting attachments yet, but Variety notes Brad Pitt was considered for the lead, as I’m sure he is for just about every major leading role.
After directing the pilot for his HBO horse-racing series “Luck,” Mann’s next project has been up in the air. He has been attached to direct a biopic of legendary war photographer Robert Capa since 2009. Gemma Arterton confirming she would play Capa’s partner and fellow photographer Gerda Taro, while suggesting Andrew Garfield would play Capa in the film’s most recent update.
Mann (a Chicago native) has also reportedly been considering (thanks Slashfilm) a gangster film called Big Tuna that would center on elderly Chicago mobster Tony Accardo and his young successor Sam Giancana. Another proposed project is Agincourt, an period epic about a fugitive whose archery skills catch the eye of King Henry V.
Which of these four films will he tackle next? I’m thinking it will either be the Capa film or Go Like Hell (fast cars are all the rage these days), but your guess is as good as mine.
