Though director Ron Howard dabbled in lighter romantic comedy fare for his last film (2011’s The Dilemma), he’s getting back into the period groove with his next feature, Rush.  The film takes place in the world of Formula 1 racing and chronicles the 1970s rivalry between Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and British driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).  Production wrapped earlier this year, but we have to wait until next September before the pic hits theaters.

Steve recently interviewed producer Eric Fellner in anticipation of the release of Tom Hooper’s musical adaptation Les Miserables, and Fellner talked a bit about Rush.  He revealed that he’s seen a nearly completed cut of the film, teased a standout performance from Brühl, and talked about the film’s promising test scores.  Hit the jump for more.

Steve began by asking if Fellner has seen a rough cut of the film, and the producer revealed that Howard is nearly done with the pic altogether:

“I’ve seen more than a rough cut, I’ve seen nearly a finished film.  It’s great.”

German actor Brühl turned heads with his work in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, and it appears that he’s poised to shine once again in Rush as Fellner gushed about the actor’s performance:

“Hemsworth’s great, but we know Hemsworth’s great.  Daniel Bruhl is a surprise and we love a surprise, he’s brilliant.”

rush-daniel-bruhl-ron-howard

The test screening process on Rush is well underway, and Fellner noted that the film surprisingly played incredibly well with female audiences:

“The amazing thing was, here’s a film about Formula 1 which firstly isn’t of a lot of interest in the U.S. anyway, yet, and it’s a man’s sport and it’s a period film—the women scored through the roof in the preview.  Now it’s only a preview, but they absolutely adored it.  I mean the men loved it too, but the women’s scores were huge.”

Of course Hemsworth’s dashing good looks may be a tiny part of the female appeal, and Fellner teased that the actor has his fair share of, well, clothing-less scenes:

“[Hemsworth] does a lot of shagging in the movie.  He does a lot of naked shagging.”

You heard it here first; Rush involves plenty of uglies-bumping from Chris Hemsworth.  Howard’s ensemble cast also includes Olivia Wilde, Natalie Dormer, and Alexandra Maria Lara, and the film is set for release on September 20, 2013.  Look for Steve’s full interview with Fellner closer to the release of Les Miserables.

chris-hemsworth-rush