Apple TV+ announced today that a new series is on the way, and it’s a treat for both car and biopic fans. Ferrari will center around the creator of the fastest racing car in the automobile industry – and also about how that dedication took a toll on Enzo Ferrari's personal life. The series hails from Peaky Blinders creator and writer Steven Knight, and BAFTA-winning director Paolo Sorrentino (The Hand of God).
The series is based on author Luca Dal Monte’s best-selling book Ferrari Rex: Biografia di un Grande Italiano del Novecento, and it focuses on the most important five years of Enzo Ferrari’s life: From 1956 to 1961, a time when he witnessed the death of his son and a betrayal from a top friver of his racing team. That’s when Ferrari built a brand-new racing team with five promising drivers who helped catapult Enzo’s last name to the elite ranks of racing. This is not to be confused with the Michael Mann Ferrari film starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz.
In an official statement, Knight celebrated the opportunity to be able to tell this story and revealed what the core of the upcoming series is going to be:
“I am thrilled to be telling such an evocative story about this legendary man and his iconic brand. Enzo Ferrari’s utterly extraordinary life was defined by his dramatic personal and professional journey, and ‘Ferrari’ is a celebration of an incredibly complex and fascinating human being.”
Aside from creating Peaky Blinders, Knight is an acclaimed and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter who also penned David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, cult-classic Dirty Pretty Things, and most recently the Princess Diana biopic Spencer. For Apple TV+, Knight created dystopian series See. He’s also attached to write and showrun the upcoming Netflix miniseries All the Light We Cannot See.
Knight also executive produces the Ferrari series along with Paolo Sorrentino, while Stefano Sollima (Sicario: Day of the Soldado) is attached to direct. The series was given a straight-to-series order by Apple TV+, which means production of a full season is already on the way – as opposed to making a pilot episode and seeing how it holds up before moving forward.
Apple TV+ is yet to announce further details from the Ferrari series, including cast and release window. You can check out the official synopsis of the series below:
Five years. Five drivers. Five deaths. One trial. In the name of passion, in the pursuit of pure speed. At the center of it all a titanic man, complex and multifaceted, who dedicated his genius to the mission of building the fastest racing car in history. Enzo Ferrari: His name became a boast, an aspiration, and ultimately legend. But there was a trail of tragedy and torment along the way. Between 1956 and 1961, deeply wounded by the tragic death of his firstborn son Dino and by what he considered a betrayal by his lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio, Enzo Ferrari rebuilds his racing team from scratch, selecting five promising rising stars of motor racing to fight for victory.
While we wait for more updates, you can check out Collider's interview with Steven Knight below: