Tobey Maguire’s got his timing bang-on.
No sooner has Formula 1 made its triumphant return to the sporting schedules, than it was announced that the **Spider-Man **star will star and produce in Columbia’s The Limit, a drama based on the real-life rivalry between two Ferrari drivers in the 1961 Grand Prix.
Maguire will play Jeff Hill, the only American to ever – SPOILER! – win the World Drivers’ Championship. During the ’61 season, he battled against his team-mate, Wolfgang von Trips, in a battle that went right to the wire, taking a truly tragic twist along the way.
The movie will be based on Michael Cannell’s forthcoming novel (of the same name), which Tony Peckham will turn into a screenplay. Maguire Entertainment’s Jenno Topping will produce, along with her boss.
Given that its natural mix of speed, intrigue and drivers’ egos the size of planets, F1 seems innately cinematic. Yet, apart from the likes Stallone/Renny Harlin’s Driven and John Frankenheimer’s 1966 cult classic, Grand Prix, it’s been pretty much left alone, in favour of its less satisfying American cousin, Nascar.
This story, however, is a belter, and should provide a great role for Maguire. Let’s hope it makes the starting grid as soon as possible.