02/12/2011

In mid-November, Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl met the legendary Austrian Formula One champion Niki Lauda, who he will play in Ron Howard’s Rush, a co-production between UK companies Revolution Films (Michael Winterbottom’s company) and Working Title, which also has US financing. About ten days ago, another company also got on board: Germany’s Egoli Tossell, which as well as producing domestic titles (like Hilde [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) regularly gets involved in international projects (including Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Last Station [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Olivier Assayas’s Carlos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). This partnership should enable Rush to access German financing. Egoli Tossell, which was in difficulty at the start of the year and was rescued in May by Frankfurt-based group Film House Germany, has evidently bounced back.

Scripted by well-known London-born screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile]), Rush centres on the rivalry between Lauda and racing driver James Hunt (played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth). The two lead actors will star alongside Alexandra Maria Lara.

Shooting is expected to start in Germany in February. At the latest AFM (American Film Market), US seller Exclusive Media Group pre-sold the film to territories all over the world, including to Germany’s Universum/RTL, the UK’s StudioCanal, and Spain’s Aurum. It will be distributed in the US by Universal Pictures.

(Translated from French)