Ferrari Trivia | 55 facts about the movie

Ferrari is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Michael Mann and written by Troy Kennedy Martin.

Let’s find out more about the movie!

1. Ferrari is a 2023 American biographical sports thriller movie.
2. The movie is directed by Michael Mann.
3. The screenplay is written by Troy Kennedy Martin.
4. It is based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by motorsport journalist Brock Yates.
5. The film follows the personal and professional struggles of Enzo Ferrari, the Italian founder of the car manufacturer Ferrari S.p.A., during the summer of 1957.
6. Adam Driver portrays Enzo Ferrari.
7. Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey co-star in the movie.
8. Ferrari was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.
9. The movie premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2023.
10. It is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 25, 2023, by Neon.
11. Christian Bale was cast in the lead role in late 2015, prompting a reunion with director Michael Mann after Public Enemies (2009) but dropped out due to health concerns as Bale considered that he didn’t have enough time to gain the necessary weight for the role.
12. Hugh Jackman was the first actor to replace Bale, until Adam Driver took over the role in January 2022.
13. This has been a passion project for director Michael Mann, who has been trying to get the film made for more than 20 years.
14. An article from 1993 reveals that Mann was developing this biopic with Robert De Niro attached to star, as his follow-up to The Last of the Mohicans (1992).
15. At one point, Sydney Pollack was attached to team up with Michael Mann to produce the film.
16. In the show Entourage, Vincent Chase stars in a movie called Ferrari, fictitiously directed by Frank Darabont. Since the cancellation of Entourage, four of Vincent’s movies have become reality. Escobar: Paradise Lost (Medillin on the show) The Great Gatsby, the above mentioned Ferrari, and Aquaman. Even more coincidental is the fact that Escobar: Paradise Lost was a financial failure, much like Medillin.
17. Patrick Dempsey is an avid car racer, having competed in many competions including Daytona.
18. STX Entertainment acquired the movie from Paramount Pictures.
19. Filming was originally scheduled to begin in the summer of 2016.
20. For insurance reasons, Adam Driver wasn’t permitted to drive any of the original classic race cars that feature in the biopic.
21. Co-star Patrick Dempsey did, however, take the wheel of replicas of the open-topped cars, which offered no protection to the exposed drivers.
22. The Writers Guild of America credited Michael Mann and David Rayfiel with “Additional Literary Material” for their writing services on the screenplay, which did not include an on-screen credit for their touch-ups.
23. Sarah Gadon and Shailene Woodley previously worked on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), even though Woodley’s scenes were cut from the completed film.
24. In order to play Piero Taruffi, Patrick Dempsey bleached his hair to get Piero’s look.
25. The movie had its North American premiere at the 61st New York Film Festival, where it was also the closing night film.
26. The movie is Michael Mann’s first film in eight years.
27. Michael Mann directed Penélope Cruz’s husband Javier Bardem in Collateral (2004).
28. NEON acquired distribution rights for the film less than 2 months before its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
29. In an interview with Life magazine on April 9 1956, Alfonso de Portago stated that ‘I will not die of an accident. I will die of old age or be executed in a gross miscarriage of justice’.
30. Sadly, this prediction was to prove incorrect as he perished in a crash towards the end of the 1957 Mille Miglia, a crash caused by a tire blowout which also cost the lives of 9 spectators.
31. The final kiss between Alfonso di Portago and Linda Christian was captured on film by a photographer who remains anonymous. It was dubbed ‘Il bacio della morte’ or the kiss of death by the Italian press. Linda later claimed that the strange look on her face was due to a premonition – ‘I had a strange sensation with that kiss. It was cold, and it caused me to look for the first time at Nelson seated behind him. He seemed like a mummy, gray, ashen, as of mesmerised. He had the eyes of someone who had suffered an enormous shock’.
32. Principal photography began on August 17, 2022, in Italy.
33. Filming occurred in Brescia in early October.
34. Production of the film wrapped in late October 2022.
35. In an interview with Life magazine on April 9, 1956, Alfonso de Portago stated “I will not die of an accident. I will die of old age or be executed in a gross miscarriage of justice.” Sadly, he died in a crash towards the end of the 1957 Mille Miglia. It was caused by a tire blowout, and killed nine spectators.
36. In the gruesome portrayal of the aftermath of the crash, there is a corpse shown split in half.
37. Co-pilot Nelson was in fact, cut in half as a result of the crash. Portega’s corpse was trapped under the vehicle that was half-submerged in a drainage trench.
38. The final kiss between Alfonso di Portago and Linda Christian was captured on film by a photographer who remains anonymous. It was dubbed ‘Il bacio della morte’ or the kiss of death by the Italian press.
39. Linda later claimed that the strange look on her face was due to a premonition – ‘I had a strange sensation with that kiss. It was cold, and it caused me to look for the first time at Nelson seated behind him. He seemed like a mummy, gray, ashen, as if mesmerised. He had the eyes of someone who had suffered an enormous shock’.
40. Mann’s source material for the film is famed automobile journalist Brock Yate’s (1933-2016) biography of Ferrari (as credited) and presumably also drew inspiration from Yate’s book ‘Against Death and Time’ that chronicles the Mille Miglia. Yate’s wife Pamela, was an Executive Producer of the film.
41. Due to the high death toll among both drivers and spectators, the 1957 Mille Miglia was the last in its original format. There had been 56 known deaths in 24 runnings (1927-1939 and 1947-1957), with 35 in the last ten years as the cars got faster. A safer version was held from 1958-1961, then the Mille Miglia was permanently cancelled.
42. Patrick Dempsey lost all his hair while bleaching it white for his role as Piere. He stated in an interview that his hair fell out and left him with a halo on top of his head. He admitted that he should have opted for a wig instead of bleaching it.
43. An audience member at a film festival screening in Poland asked Adam Driver what he thought of the crash scenes. The audience member said, “They looked pretty harsh, drastic and, I must say, cheesy for me.” Driver replied, “Fuck you, I don’t know. Next question.”
44. Enzo Ferrari had a soft spot for certain Pininfarina-designed French cars. His daily drivers were usually Peugeot sedans from the late 1950s to 1970s.
45. In the show Entourage, Vincent Chase stars in a movie called Ferrari, fictitiously directed by Frank Darabont. Since the cancellation of Entourage, four of Vincent’s movies have become reality. Escobar: Paradise Lost (Medillin on the show) The Great Gatsby, the above mentioned Ferrari, and Aquaman. Even more coincidental is the fact that Escobar: Paradise Lost was a financial failure, much like Medillin.
46. At one point, Sydney Pollack was attached to team up with Michael Mann to produce the film.
47. A 24-year-old Michael Mann first fell in love with Ferraris while studying film in London in 1967. He recalled his first encounter with one outside the London Underground, “Something rolls by. It was a Ferrari 275 GTB four-cam. It was just such a gorgeous, sensual sculpture that’s moving. It was just this integration of performance speed and sheer beauty.”
48. In the United States, the film’s financier STX was originally set to release the film direct to streaming service ‘Showtime’, until NEON acquired the the United States distribution rights for the film (from STX) less than 2 months before its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
49. Michael Mann’s first film in eight years, since Blackhat (2015).
50. Michael Mann said, “There’s a similarity between Adam Driver and Enzo Ferrari in Adam’s origins. Adam applies to Juilliard, is rejected, joins the Marine Corps at 19. After the Marine Corps he goes back to Juilliard, studies, is determined and discovers his passion for acting. And nothing will stand in his way.”
51. The Writers Guild of America credited Michael Mann and David Rayfiel with “Additional Literary Material” for their writing services on the screenplay, which did not include an on-screen credit for their touch-ups.
52. The film features the song Sacrifice by Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke which was previously featured in another Michael Mann film, The Insider (1999).
53. Was originally set to release on Paramount+ via Showtime.
54. It was upgraded to a theatrical release after Neon took over the United States rights from STX.
55. Filming was originally scheduled to begin in the summer of 2016.