Michael Mann’s long-gestating passion project “Ferrari” has finally found a distributor.
Neon has acquired the distribution rights to the racing biopic, starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari and Penelope Cruz as his wife, Laura Ferrari. No release date has been announced, but the film is said to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival before staging a fall awards campaign.
“Michael Mann, one of American cinema’s most innovative and influential filmmakers, was compelled by the power of this intensely dramatic story to persist for years to bring it to the big screen,” said Tom Quinn, CEO of Neon. “’Ferrari’ reaffirms Neon’s continued commitment to supporting visionary auteurs who push the boundaries of cinema. Working with Michael Mann on “Ferrari” it’s a dream come true for Neon.”
The official synopsis reads: “Ferrari” is set in the summer of 1957. The former Ferrari racing driver is in crisis. Failure stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from scratch 10 years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with mourning one child and acknowledging another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on a race: 1,000 miles through Italy, the iconic Mille Miglia.
Neon will release the film theatrically nationwide on Christmas Day. Also starring Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey.
Michael Mann directs from a screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin (“The Italian Job”) based on the book by Brock Yates “Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine”. Mann is also producing through his Moto Pictures alongside PJ van Sandwijk and “Birdman” producer John Lesher, as well as Marie Savare, John Friedberg, Lars Sylvest, Thorsten Schumacher and Gareth West.
The deal was negotiated by Dan Friedkin, Ryan Friedkin and Tom Quinn for NEON with CAA Media Finance and Gang Tire Ramer & Brown attorney Harold Brown on Mann’s behalf.
