It seems that the Dark Knight has been tapped to portray il Commendatore. Christian Bale is reported by Deadline to be lined up to portray Enzo Ferrari in another biopic about the legendary race team owner and automaker. We put race team owner first, because that was Enzo's largest passion over the course of his 90-year life. Previously, it was Robert De Niro making headlines over an Enzo Ferrari biopic.
This picture has been in the works for decades now. Enzo himself died in 1988, and a movie about his life has been a Hollywood dream ever since. For a long time, it was set to be a passion project of director Sydney Pollack but the legendary director passed away before that could come to be. Now it's in the hands of Michael Mann.
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It seems the film will take place around the year 1957, which is instantly dramatic to those who know their motorsports history. Ferrari was well established at this time as producing world-beating racing cars. The disaster at Le Mans occurred two years prior, but another disaster was set to occur a bit closer to home.
A Ferrari 335S lost a tire while running the Mille Miglia. This sent the car into the crowd, killing both the driver and passenger along with nine spectators. Enzo Ferrari, along with the company that produced the tire, were charged and tried with manslaughter. The case was ultimately dismissed four years later.
Looking back at the roles that Bale has played, we see no issues with him transforming into Ferrari's Father. His range and skill as an actor should definitely bring a bit of Enzo's story to life.
A release for Bale’s film is yet to be confirmed, but De Niro has hinted that his own, tipped to be directed by Clint Eastwood, will hit theaters sometime next year.
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