Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, and Shailene Woodley have signed on to star in Michael Mann‘s Ferrari, a longtime passion project for the director that finally looks like it’s moving ahead.
Driver will play former racing driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari in the film, who is facing possible bankruptcy on the company he and his wife built a decade ago. The couple is also struggling in their marriage, mourning a son and having another on the way. Ferrari then decides to roll the dice on one race, the Mille Miglia, which runs 1,000 miles across Italy.
Mann has been working on the film for two decades, co-writing the film’s script alongside the late Troy Kennedy Martin (Red Heat), which is based on the book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine by Brock Yates. Mann has always been interested in Ferrari as a person, and was in line to helm 2019’s Ford v Ferrari for a while before James Mangold signed on to direct.
Mann said in a statement: “Being able to have these wonderfully talented artists, actors Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley, bring to life these unique characters on location in Modena and the Emilia-Romagna is a vision fulfilled.” Adam Fogelson, whose STXFilms is handling international rights, added:
“Ferrari is so much more than a story about a man and his machine. It is an extraordinary and emotional story that Michael has been developing for years and the entire team at STX is looking forward to the start of production with this dream cast and filmmaker.”
Mann was a prolific filmmaker in the 90s and early 2000s, making crime classics such as Heat, The Insider and Collateral, earning four Oscar nominations along the way. But as cinema changed, his model of big budgets for big stars in original adult dramas wasn’t as viable to studios anymore. He hasn’t made a film since 2015 flop Blackhat.
It’s great that it looks like he’s finally getting the chance to make his passion project, and hopefully Ferrari can make enough waves at the box office to ensure it’s not the final film of his career. Although finally making a long gestating passion project isn’t the worst way to go out.
A lot of what Mann made for the big screen has now migrated to the smaller one, so it makes sense that he’s also directing upcoming HBO Max crime series Tokyo Vice, which stars Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe.
Driver had a busy 2021, appearing in Annette, The Last Duel, and House Of Gucci. He’s got Sam Raimi‘s horror movie 65 and Noah Baumbach‘s Don DeLillo adaptation White Noise lined up next.
Him starring in Ferrari, taking over a role previously held by Hugh Jackman, is likely one of the major reasons the film is finally getting made.
Cruz also had a strong previous year, starring in The 355, Parallel Mothers, and Official Competition. She’s currently in post-production on thriller On The Fringe.
Woodley was recently seen in school shooting drama The Fallout, while she’s set to appear in serial killer thriller Misanthrope and comedy Robots from Borat writer Anthony Hines.
Ferrari is expected to begin production in May. Mann’s Tokyo Vice is set to premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, April 7.
#Peace.Love.Mann
