Fans have been highly anticipating what Logan director James Mangold‘s follow up to his critically successfully superhero/western/noir mashup will be, and we may have found the answer. Variety reports that the director has signed on to Fox’s film about a rivalry between designers at Ford and Ferrari, who were both determined to create the world’s fastest race car.
The film is currently untitled, but is inspired by the true story of:
“an eccentric, determined team of American engineers and designers, led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver, Ken Miles, who are dispatched by Henry Ford II with the mission of building from scratch an entirely new automobile with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship”.
Mangold is currently developing the film alongside Edge Of Tomorrow screenwriters Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. No casting has been confirmed, but Mangold is reportedly eyeing Christian Bale for the role of Miles and Matt Damon for Shelby.
In terms of films about racing, this sounds like it will be less Logan Lucky and more Ron Howard‘s Rush. Mangold has always jumped between genres, having directed Oscar dramas (Walk The Line), buddy comedies (Knight & Day) and superhero films, so while this new project is a far cry from Logan, it shouldn’t be that surprising to his fans.
The question remains as to whether this will actually be Mangold’s next film, as he still has a number of other projects in the works, such as the adaptation of Don Winslow‘s crime novel The Force, an adaptation of Katherine Applegate‘s children’s novel Crenshaw, and an English-language remake of the thriller Disorder.
The film has an intriguing story behind it, but one that will take some work on Mangold’s part to make it cinematic. Considering his track record and commitment to adjusting to different tones and genres, that should not be a problem.
#Peace.Love.JamesMangold
