While you wonder why Adam Driver would leap into another Italian story after the accent-heavy melodrama of ‘House of Gucci’, the lure of working with Michael Mann is strong.

And yes, while he does sometimes look alternately like ‘Succession’s Kendall Roy or real-life’s Andy Garcia in this first teaser trailer for Mann’s ‘Ferrari’, it’s certainly loaded with (pun intended) driving pressure: almost entirely dialogue free (aside from Driver as car magnate Enzo Ferrari growling, “You get in one of my cars, you get in to win”) and soundtracked by the howling, grinding sound of an engine at full throttle.

What’s the story of ‘Ferrari’?

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.'

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.' Photo: Neon.

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari (Driver) is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura (Penélope Cruz) built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley). Meanwhile, his drivers' passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

Who else is in ‘Ferrari’?

Penélope Cruz as Laura Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.'

Penélope Cruz as Laura Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.' Photo: Neon.

The cast for Mann’s latest also includes Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey (no stranger to racing himself, at least usually off screen).

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Mann on ‘Ferrari’

A scene from director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.'

A scene from director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.' Photo: Neon.

This new movie is –– even for a man who pours passion into his projects –– something of a long-held dream. He’s been planning to make this film for more than 30 years.

Mann first read Troy Kennedy Martin’s script, adapted from Brock Yates’ 1991 book ‘Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine’, in the early 1990s. Trouble was, the film would be an expensive one (at least for its genre –– the reported budget of $95 million is big for a biopic, but seems almost quaint given the money lavished on huge blockbusters) and there was a thought that Ferrari’s story was too esoteric for American audiences who back then were more used to NASCAR than Formula 1.

But the international racing sport has surged in popularity since then (a grand prix will be run in the streets of Las Vegas for the first time since 1982 this November), and Mann nearly got the movie made in 2015 with Christian Bale attached as Ferrari.

Yet the actor dropped out, citing concerns about putting on the right weight to play the role, but he and Mann were both connected to a film that helped this one flourish –– 2019’s ‘Ford v Ferrari’, on which the director has an executive producer credit.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.'

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari.' Photo: Neon.

Now ‘Ferrari’ is speeding its way to us, via a stop at the Venice Film Festival.

Here’s what Mann told Variety about the story:

“Everything he’s been collides with what he might become, and the company has gone bust,” says Mann with some glee. “His wife finds out about the other woman. It’s a spectacularly operatic melodrama in real life.”

And according to the director, Cruz and he were on the same page when it came to portraying Laura:

“Penélope connected with Laura on almost a primordial level from the first day. We would have the same thoughts about Laura on the same night.”

‘Ferrari’ will drive into theaters on December 25th.

Director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari' opens in theaters on December 25th.

Director Michael Mann's 'Ferrari' opens in theaters on December 25th. Photo: Neon.

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