Adam Driver is going Italian again. He will play racecar driver Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s upcoming drama “Ferrari,” and the first look at his transformative role has been officially released.
The movie takes place in 1957, when Ferrari enters the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race. Born in 1898, Ferrari will be around 59 years old in the film, putting him a couple decades older than Driver, who is currently 38.
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According to the film’s official logline: “‘Ferrari’ is set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing 10 years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgement of another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on one race – 1,000 miles across Italy, the iconic Mille Miglia.”
The A-list cast includes Penélope Cruz as Ferrari’s wife Laura Ferrari; Shailene Woodley as his mistress Lina Lardi; Patrick Dempsey as fellow racecar driver Piero Taruffi; Jack O’Connell as racer Peter Collins; Sarah Gadon as Linda Christian and Gabriel Leone as charismatic driver Alfonso De Portago.
This is the latest older, Italian role for Driver, after he starred in last year’s “House of Gucci,” directed by Ridley Scott. He played fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci, who was assassinated at 46 years old in a plot orchestrated by his wife Patrizia Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga.
“Ferrari” has been filming on the streets of Italy, and it’s racing toward a 2023 worldwide theatrical release by STX Entertainment and its partners. Oscar winner Erik Messerschmidt is the director of photography, Oscar-nominated Maria Djurkovic is production designer, two-time nominee Massimo Cantini Parrini is costume designer and two-time Oscar winner Pietro Scalia is editor. Troy Kennedy Martin wrote the script based on Brock Yates’ book, “Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine.”
Mann produces the film through his Moto Pictures alongside P.J. van Sandwijk, John Lesher, John Friedberg, Lars Sylvest, Thorsten Schumacher, Gareth West and Thomas Hayslip. Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi produce through their service company, ILBE, and are they joined by executive producer Niels Juul.
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