Adam Driver is racing to save his company in Michael Mann‘s family drama “Ferrari.”
The film, which stars Driver as Enzo Ferrari and Penelope Cruz as his wife, Laura Ferrari, debuted at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and marked its North American premiere at NYFF. Mann directs from a script by Troy Kennedy Martin, adapted from Brock Yates’ book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine.”
The official synopsis reads: It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari (Driver) is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura (Cruz) built from nothing 10 years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino, a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi (Woodley). Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.
Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey also star.
Four-time Oscar nominee Mann produces the film through his Moto Pictures alongside P.J. van Sandwijk and John Lesher, as well as John Friedberg, Lars Sylvest, Thorsten Schumacher, Gareth West and Thomas Hayslip with major support from producers Andrea Iervolino & Monika Bacardi and their production service company, ILBE, and are joined by executive producer, Niels Juul.
The film was shot on location in Italy, with Academy Award-winning director of photography Erik Messerschmidt behind the cinematography alongside Oscar-nominated production designer Maria Djurkovic, two-time Oscar-nominated costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, and two-time Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia.
Mann told IndieWire at NYFF that he had a personal connection to the “Ferrari” story through heir Piero.
“I’ve known him for 25 years,” Mann said. “Piero is a brilliant engineer in his own right.”
Mann confirmed that “Heat 2” will also be his next film, with Deadline reporting that “Ferrari” actor Driver is in talks to play the younger version of character Neil McCauley, as portrayed by Robert De Niro in the original film.
“We don’t talk about that yet,” Mann told Deadline as to whether or not Driver is cast. “Let me put it this way: Adam and I got along like a house on fire [on ‘Ferrari’]. We have the same work ethic – which is pretty intense. We like each other, and we had a great time working together artistically.”
“Ferrari” premieres December 25 in theaters from Neon. Check out the trailer below.
