james2025a

I am originally from Leeds, so the Damned United was fascinating viewing (even though i am not a football fan).

As for Rush, well i loved it. I have never been a big fan of Ron Howards films, but this was easily the best thing he has ever done. Really well made, great story and superb casting. I recently watched the documentary Senna and these two together make a great double bill. Only a matter of time before the story of Senna gets the big screen treatment with a story just as compelling.

mrhan

Old news but hopefully it's still going to be made.

http://collider.com/rodrigo-santoro-...erview/164332/

Though his name may not be super familiar here in the United States, Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna is a legend around the world. The Brazilian made a name for himself as one of the greatest F1 drivers to have ever raced, with an all-too-short career spanning nearly a decade. Sadly, Senna was killed in a crash in 1994 during the San Marino Grand Prix. His life was chronicled in Asif Kapadia’s excellent 2010 documentary Senna (currently available on Netflix Instant Watch), and rumors have been swirling that a biopic of the racer could be on its way soon.

Steve recently got the chance to sit down with actor Rodrigo Santoro at the press day for What to Expect When You’re Expecting, and he asked Santoro about the rumors that he might portray Senna in a feature film. Santoro confirmed that, though nothing is official, “talks are going on” and elaborated a bit on how the project’s development is coming along and what a huge undertaking it would be to portray the racing legend. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

rodrigo-santoro-ayrton-senna-movie-biopicSteve mentioned that there are rumors that Santoro has signed on to portray Senna, but the actor revealed that nothing is official just yet:

“No, I have not signed on. It’s just rumor right now. [But] I keep saying that this rumor has [merit]… There are some talks going on.”

Though he hasn’t officially joined the project, Santoro confirmed that a script is currently being developed:

“Yes, they’re working on [the script]… There is something already, like a structure. They’re trying to figure out how they’re going to do this. It’s a real big, big project, that’s why. For Brazil, it’s the biggest one.”

The actor is very much aware of just how much Senna means to the people of Brazil, and elaborated on just how cautiously they’re approaching the film:

“I mean, he’s a hero. In Brazil, he’s…’huge’ wouldn’t describe it. He’s a hero, like a true hero. It’s a very delicate matter; I’ve been very careful [with] how we’re going to approach that. If we get this done, if we really move forward with this project, it will be with the family, with his family, it will all be done in a very, very careful and respectful way. So yeah that might be possible in the future. Right now, we’re still in conversations, but it is moving.”

ayrton-senna-imageSantoro went on to mention that the key to the whole project is finding the right director and behind-the-scenes team to bring Senna’s life to the screen. It certainly sounds like he’s very serious about doing Senna justice, and if Santoro remains involved I definitely feel like the film will be in good hands. The biopic is most likely still a few years away (if it ever comes to fruition), but it’s nice to know that it’s being developed with a great deal of respect and caution.

hanshotfirst1138

Apparently A.J. Baime's book Go Like Hell about the Ford-Shelby-Ferrari battle at Le Mans got optioned too. I'd definitely go see a Senna biopic though. Those of you who haven't seen the documentary, by the way, you should, it's great stuff, even if you aren't interested in the subject, IMO.

arminius

Senna was either going to kill himself or someone else. Luckily it was himself. He was enraged when he was not winning and could not see the sport for the races.

mrhan

I don`t know what your talking about because it is well documented that he stated the `94 cars were dangerous. Only after he and ratzenberg died did they implement better safety rules for the cars.

james2025a

I am not sure why you are saying Senna could not see the sport for the race. Watch the documentary and you clearly see that the heads of Formula 1 had it in for Senna and were happy to back Prost instead. He did not seem to get angry with what happened, but rather frustrated.

Also with the introduction of the computer controlled active suspension a lot of the actual skill of driving was taken away from the drivers and i believe Senna was against this. Now you could argue that he was saying it because it was causing him to lose races, but it was clearly an unfair advantage that some drivers had over others. Not very sporting. After seeing the documentary he came across to me as a quiet and humble man who only wanted to be the best at his sport.

Solid Snake

I remember reading about GO LIKE HELL. That sounded interesting.

I have heard of the Senna doc but know nothing about him. In fact, I just knew the doc name. Not until now did I know what it was about. I'll check it out now.

I'm not a fan of watching cars race in general but F1 is a beauty of a thing. Much more interesting than Nascar. How I hate living in Texas sometimes cuz of Nascar.

Ash Ketchum

There was a Japanese animated series called "Arrow Emblem: Hawk of the Grand Prix" (1977) about Formula One racing. Niki Lauda was even a character in it. A 90-minute compilation of episodes from the series has been released in dubbed English under the title, "Super Grand Prix," which makes the main character American. Lauda's not in the compilation. I've seen "Super Grand Prix" and liked it a great deal. It was directed by Rintaro, who did a lot of anime classics in later years (DAGGER OF KAMUI, HARMAGEDDON, X: THE MOVIE, METROPOLIS).

Here's the sole IMDB review:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2554054/reviews

Why So Blu?

Austin had the F1 last year. A friend went and said it was the bomb!

Dash

They have the race this year in Austin on the weekend of Oct 31st - 2 Nov.

E Unit

Been to the last couple since the F1 track is 20 minutes away from me, hence my newfound love for the sport. I actually got into it a couple of years before the COTA started their races here.

I did finally watch Senna on Netflix. Very interesting life that guy had.

Oh, and if you think F1 is crazy, you should check out MotoGP.

JumpCutz

Liked the movie a lot but it's not as good as Frost/Nixon.

Solid Snake

Watching the BD right now. Fuck. I'm so impressed w/ the cinematography in this one. So many damn places the camera gets put in.

Really really solid flick for me.

Ash Ketchum

Yeah, I picked up the Blu-ray myself and watched it.

One question I had: As written, directed and acted here, the character of Niki Lauda comes off as semi-autistic or Asperger's or something. He reminded me of John Robert Nash from A BEAUTIFUL MIND, but not quite as far gone. Does anyone know if Lauda was indeed diagnosed with some kind of syndrome/condition/disorder like that?

mrhan

Yeah, I'm a huge F1 fan and this movie was solid. Too bad it didn't do so well. I was hoping it would so we could get more like this. It was cool they were able to acquire the real cars from private owners.

I'd love to see a movie about Gruppe B racing. It was like the insane version of drifting; which is mild compared to what rally racing was in the 80's. Drivers and spectators getting hurt or killed was a common occurrence.

Solid Snake

Seemed he liked to put emphasis on his speech. From what the features say... seems like he got Lauda down perfectly.