When you have two-time Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) behind the camera, and twice-nominated writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) penning the script, you know that the project they’re working on together, Rush, is going to be brilliant.
The film will follow the real-life rivalry that existed between F1 drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) in the 1970s.
News came back in August that Alexandra Maria Lara (Control) had taken the role of the female lead, presumably playing the love interest of Lauda. Word now comes via Deadline that Olivia Wilde (TRON: Legacy) will be taking the other female lead, playing the role of supermodel Suzy Miller.
“Miller fell in love with and married Hunt, a handsome, womanizing driver, but the most interesting part of their relationship is how Miller soon fell in love with Hunt’s actor pal, Richard Burton. Hunt and Burton famously negotiated a “transfer” of assets, with Burton paying the $1 million divorce settlement that Hunt owed Miller. Burton and Miller were married shortly after.”
And not only is the already excellent cast becoming even better with the addition of Wilde, but there is talk that Howard wants none other than the awesome Russell Crowe, with whom Howard has worked with already on A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man, to take the role of Richard Burton.
I’m a big fan of Howard’s, and anything he’s directed is going to be something worth watching in my books. Principal photography is set to begin soon after Hemsworth has finished up filming the upcoming Snow White and the Huntsman with a release expected sometime in 2013, so we’re still a while away from seeing the finished product, but there is every reason to believe that it’s going to be great. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for Crowe returning to work with Howard on this, because that would be so awesome.
