Neon Buys Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari,’ Starring Adam Driver
Michael Mann’s long-gestating passion project “Ferrari” has finally found a distributor.
Neon has acquired distribution rights to the racing biopic, which stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari and Penelope Cruz as his wife, Laura Ferrari. No release date has been announced, but the film is heavily rumored to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival before mounting a fall awards campaign.
“Michael Mann, one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema, was moved by the power of this intensely dramatic story to persist for years to bring it to the big screen,” Neon CEO Tom Quinn said in a statement. “‘Ferrari’ reaffirms Neon’s continued commitment to supporting visionary auteurs who push the boundaries of cinema. Working with Michael Mann on ‘Ferrari’ is a dream come true for Neon.”
The official synopsis reads: “Ferrari” is set during the summer of 1957. Ex-race car 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 acknowledgment of another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on one race – 1,000 miles across Italy, the iconic Mille Miglia.
Neon will release the film in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day. It also stars Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey.
Michael Mann directs from a script by Troy Kennedy Martin (“The Italian Job”) based on Brock Yates’ book “Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine.” Mann is also producing via his Moto Pictures banner alongside P.J. 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 attorney Harold Brown of Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown on behalf of Mann.