Skip to main content

Christian Bale drops out of Enzo Ferrari biopic

christian bale enzo ferrari biopic movie
Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com
Michael Mann’s biopic of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari will need to find a new lead actor now that Christian Bale has left the high-profile project.

The Oscar-winning actor reportedly departed the biopic due to concerns about the amount of weight he’d need to gain in order to begin production by this spring. The movie is scheduled to begin filming later this year.

Originally attached to the project in August 2015, Bale will now leave Mann in search of a new star to sign in the very near future if the film is going to stay on schedule, according to Variety.

Tentatively titled Enzo Ferrari, the film is based on Brock Yates’ biographical novel Enzo Ferrari, The Man, The Cars, The Races and (according to its official synopsis) tells the story of “a passionate man and his sprawling world, at times hilarious and at the next moment devastating, as he faces a brutal challenge to his survival.”

Borin in 1898, Enzo Ferrari was a race driver and entrepreneur who founded both the famous Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix racing team and the Ferrari automobile manufacturing company. Known as a tough taskmaster who frequently used psychological tactics to foster competition among his drivers — occasionally to the point where their drive to win resulted in deadly accidents — Ferrari was the subject of a 2003 biopic from Italian director Carlo Carlei that cast Sergio Castellitto as Enzo.

The script for the film was originally penned by The Italian Job and Edge of Darkness screenwriter Troy Kennedy-Martin, and later revised by Mann and The Firm and Three Days of the Condor screenwriter David Rayfiel.

It’s unknown whether Bale’s departure will affect the reported (but not officially confirmed) casting of Prometheus actress Noomi Rapace as Enzo Ferrari’s wife Laura Dominica. Rapace was first reported to be in talks for the role back in October 2015.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
From Batman to Dick Cheney? Christian Bale could play former VP in upcoming biopic
christian bale dick cheney biopic movie 970x0

He's played a serial killer, a superhero vigilante, a washed-up prizefighter, and both Moses and Jesus in different films. Now, Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale in talks to play what could be his most polarizing role so far: former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bale is reportedly in talks to star in an upcoming biopic of Cheney that will be written and directed by Adam McKay, whose adapted screenplay won The Big Short won him an Academy Award last year. Steve Carell and Amy Adams are also said to be in talks for roles in the film.

Read more
Thieves targeted legendary carmaker Enzo Ferrari's body in bizarre ransom plot
Enzo Ferrari

Italian police stopped a theft scheme involving Ferrari, but the target wasn't one of the automaker's coveted supercars. Rather, it was the body of founder Enzo Ferrari himself.

Police in Nuoro on the island of Sardinia said in a news conference late on Tuesday that they suspected a gang had planned to steal Ferrari's body, and demand ransom from either the Ferrari family or the company. They did not offer further details, but said the plot was uncovered during an investigation into arms and drug trafficking that led to multiple arrests, according to Reuters.

Read more
The GTC4Lusso T: Ferrari drops a turbocharged V8 in a four-seater for the first time
Ferrari GTC4Lusso T

Ferrari is expanding its lineup with a new model named GTC4Lusso T. The four-seater will make its public debut next week during the Paris Motor Show.

As its name loosely implies, the GTC4Lusso T is the first four-seater Ferrari powered by a turbocharged V8 engine. The mill in question is a 3.9-liter unit that generates 610 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 560 pound-feet of torque from 3,000 all the way up to 5,250 rpm. To put those figures into perspective, the V12-powered GTC4Lusso that was introduced earlier this year in Geneva has 680 horsepower and 515 pound-feet of twist on tap.

Read more