MANILA, Philippines - Filipino moviegoers are in for a high-speed treat this year as Rush, the Hollywood recreation of the notable ’70s rivalry between Formula 1 racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, hits the big screen.
The epic action-drama film stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda, and is directed by two-time Academy award-winning director Ron Howard. The movie takes the viewer into the golden age of F1, and the legendary rivals’ lives on and off the race track as they pursue the 1976 World Championship at Fuji, Japan.
Howard, who directed films such as Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, said “The James Hunt and Niki Lauda rivalry is one of the greatest in sports. Their story is so remarkable that you can only do it if it were true because people wouldn’t quite believe it.â€
The director explained that it took three years to make Rush. “Peter Morgan had written the screenplay before I signed on to direct the movie. What attracted me to the story was its surprising twists, emotion and the cinematic possibilities of 1970’s racing by mixing in staged footage with archival shots of Hunt and Lauda’s races.â€
Rush, distributed by Captive Cinema, is now showing in theaters.