For his last two movies, filmmaker James Mangold has been firmly entrenched in the world of mutants – specifically, the solo stories of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Now in the wake of 2017’s brilliant Logan, Mangold is switching tracks, moving away from dystopian mutant futures and instead focusing on an iconic moment in the history of sports car racing with Le Mans 66.
For those unfamiliar with that world, the 24-hour French race is one of the most famous endurance competitions in motorsport – and in 1966, it was the proving ground where two heavyweight teams, Ford and Ferrari, went head-to-head for the title in a fierce rivalry. Empire has an exclusive first image from the film, with Christian Bale as Ken Miles and Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby on the Ford team.
Working together, the pair set out to challenge Ferrari's supremacy on the tarmac – with Mangold's film set to combine the spectacle of high-speed action with heaps of character drama, depicting the human endeavour that went into building a car able steal the win. “What we’re all attracted to in sport is that it’s pure," Mangold tells Empire. "That’s what Shelby and Miles encapsulate, in that they really don’t give a fuck about anything except the purity of the car, the connection to the car, driving the car over that line before the other cars. Period.”
Stay tuned for more on the film very soon – and expect it to speed into UK cinemas on 8 November.
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