Matt Damon And Christian Bale Star In Epic True Story Car Race Adventure ‘Le Mans ’66’
Academy Award®-winners Matt Damon (The Bourne franchise, The Martian, Ocean’s Eleven, The Departed) and Christian Bale (The Batman franchise, American Hustle, The Big Short, Vice) star in Le Mans ‘66, based on the remarkable true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles (Bale). Together the two battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
Le Mans ’66 is directed by James Mangold, who previously co-wrote and directed Walk the Line, with the film subsequently nominated for five Oscars. Mangold also directed critically acclaimed films including Wolverine and the sequel Logan which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, becoming the first live-action superhero movie to be nominated the category.
“I love cars, I love the gear, but I find the world, the pursuit of perfection, fascinating. I think it’s a great allegory for almost anything in life and I love the sense of speed and the danger of it all. I’m interested in making something come to life so it feels like, ‘I’m not sure where this thing is going…!’ That excitement of watching a film and not knowing how it’s going to play, that’s what I’m interested in,” James Mangold, Director.
In 1959, Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) is on top of the world after winning the most difficult race in all of motorsports, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But his greatest triumph is followed quickly by a crushing blow—the fearless Texan is told by doctors that a grave heart condition will prevent him from ever racing again. Endlessly resourceful, Shelby reinvents himself as a car designer and salesman working out of a warehouse space in Venice Beach with a team of engineers and mechanics that includes hot-tempered test driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale). A champion British race car driver and a devoted family man, Miles is brilliant behind the wheel, but he’s also blunt, arrogant and unwilling to compromise.
Fast forward to 1966 where the battle to win Le Mans was finished by the men on the track. But it was started by the egos of the owners themselves: Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari. The 24 Hours of Le Mans in ’66 was life and death in many ways. Brutal, dangerous and loaded with risk for the drivers, it was also the culmination of a war that had been raging for three years in oak-panelled offices and state-of-the-art testing facilities. A showdown from which only one side could emerge victorious – heaping delicious misery on the other in the process.
“I think this story is so relatable. It’s about these underdogs who did this thing together, this incredible thing, despite being very different people and having this very colourful relationship and friendship. They came together and achieved the impossible. I have always loved movies like that and when I read it, this one just jumped off the page – that’s why I did it,” Matt Damon, playing Carroll Shelby.
“What an amazing story theirs was (Miles and Shelby). I just love the story. It gives me goose bumps just talking about it. And, also, the David vs Goliath element of it, this triumph of the misfits. It takes this rebellious attitude, this pathfinder attitude – not a corporate attitude – to achieve true greatness. Being up against the absolute best. Being up against the absolute god of motor-racing, Enzo Ferrari. That’s what this was,” Christian Bale, playing Ken Miles.
Could they really build a car that could take on and beat the might of Ferrari, on a track where Enzo’s dominance was seemingly impenetrable? One thing was for sure: money was no object, Ford having written Shelby and Miles a blank cheque to take down his ultimate nemesis. For Shelby and Miles the film portrays their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – being up against the absolute best. Being up against the absolute god of motor-racing, Enzo Ferrari.
“Le Mans ‘66 is the kind of movie that reminds me why I got into the movie business in the first place,” says Producer Peter Chernin about what drew him to the project. “It’s a big, emotional, distinctive theatrical experience that embraces all of the reasons we want to sit in a movie theater. We want to be invested. We want to be moved, to cry to laugh… to be inspired. This movie is all of that and more.”
Le Mans ’66 had its premiere at the Telluride Film Fest on the 30th August 2019 receiving extremely positive reviews for the both the stellar performances and action-packed racing sequences. The movie releases throughout UAE the 28th November in MAX, 4DX, MX4D and Dolby Vision. The official trailer can be viewed here
DIRECTED BY
James Mangold
WRITTEN BY
Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller
PRODUCED BY
Peter Chernin p.g.a., Jenno Topping p.g.a., James Mangold p.g.a.
CAST
Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, Ray McKinnon
