It's not been a stellar year for Michael Mann. Back in February his sprawling cyber-thriller Blackhat was generally ignored, despite the presence of Chris Hemsworth in the lead role and it looked like modern audiences had moved on from the kind of action fare that the veteran is so used to delivering. But things might be looking up. Mann has long yearned to bring a biopic of Enzo Ferrari to the screen. Now, after almost a decade in development, the film is gearing-up by positioning Christian Bale for the title role. Enzo Ferrari, as you might imagine, was known for his revolutionary work on sports automobiles. The film, entitled Ferrari, would probably focus on a particular juncture in Ferrari's epic career, although it could also oversee his life from birth to death (1898-1988). Given that Mann likes to tell big, intricate stories, it would probably be best for the director to apply as much narrative focus as possible, so I'm hoping he opts to precisely map out a particularly instrumental beat from Ferrari's history rather than giving us the whole overture. Mann has reasonable pedigree with this sort of film (2001's Ali was fairly decent), and it'll be nice to have Bale back playing a human being again. The actor recently bellowed a lot as Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings, but he's consistently proven his chameleon style of performance is better suited to more realist characters. I always say, when Bale does Bruce Wayne he's great, but when he's bad he's Batman. Ferrari would allow Bale a rich, textured personal history to exploit, which suits his more sophisticated approach to performance. Ferrari is looking to accelerate toward production next summer, which means a 2017 bow is likely. Could it be an Oscar contender? Mann and Bale share a raft of nominations and a win (Bale for 2010's The Fighter) so this creative pairing could go all the way.
