While Michael Mann has been working to develop a film on Italian car magnate Enzo Ferrari for about 15 years now, the project has taken a few giant leaps forward in the past few months. Christian Bale agreed to headline the film towards the end of August, and today brings word that Paramount has boarded the project as distributor while Noomi Rapace is eyeing the leading lady spot.

THR reports that the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star is in talks to star opposite Bale as Ferrari’s wife Laura Dominica. The film is adapted from the 1991 book by Brock Yates titled Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine. Yates infiltrated Ferrari’s inner circle and the story is a detailed account of the icon’s journey, including his relationship with his illegitimate son and his career ascension. Per a press release, the film will focus on the year 1957, which was when a Ferrari model crashed during a race in Italy and killed nine pedestrians, including children.


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Image via Focus Features

In the same breath, Paramount picked up distribution rights to the film, which finally received funding from Vendian and YooZoo Bliss Fund. The latter will distribute the film in China. This is similar to how Paramount acquired Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street, which received full funding before the studio acquired it. The screenplay will be credited to Troy Kennedy-Martin and David Rayfiel, though Mann also contributed. The filmmaker shaped the work early on with Sydney Pollack (Three Days of the Condor) until he passed away.

No release date has yet been announced for Enzo Ferrari, though filming is planning to commence next summer in Italy backed by an $80 million production budget. While Mann’s last film, Blackhat, wasn’t such a hot commodity, this one is already dripping with awards mojo.

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Image via Warner Bros.