Formula 1 arrives in Hollywood in 2011!

A film about Formula 1 will hit movie screens at the beginning of next year, following a historic agreement with the sport’s financial magnate, Bernie Ecclestone. Preparations are now underway for the film, which will be an action documentary tracing the sport’s history, particularly focusing on the period between 1968 and 1982.

The film is produced by a big name in Hollywood, Michael Shevloff, and is being developed by an Oscar-winning company with Mark Monroe (writer) and Paul Crowder (director). With the full support of Bernie Ecclestone, it is hoped that the film’s production will be completed this year with a release date scheduled for early 2011.

Monroe, who won an Oscar for Crowder last week for his documentary film “The Cove,” said that this F1 film will appeal to both casual fans and video game enthusiasts as it will trace the history of the sport and its development.

“I really think this documentary can be entertaining,” he said during a visit to the Bahrain Grand Prix. “We want to make an action film as a whole, do something thrilling for the viewers. Then, tell human stories, if you dive into these human stories with these great moments of action.”

« We are going to make this film with music and energy by collaborating with people who are enthusiastic about it. It is quite a big task that we have to accomplish because the tone has to be just right for the fans. On the other hand, the film must also be broad enough for any audience to be interested. That is the task ahead of us. »

After Sylvester Stallone’s film project and the flop with ‘Driven’ based on ChampCar, Shevloff believes that by taking a documentary approach, rather than creating fiction, the idea has every chance of success.

« It’s a challenging task to make a dramatic film about a spectacular sport, » he explained. « To make a film and say that we’re going to spend 100 million dollars or 200 million dollars, Bernie would have simply liked to ask the teams to spend a billion dollars on the sport. So, a documentary is a much better way. »

The film does not yet have an official name, but it has been decided to focus on the period between the death of Jim Clark at Hockenheim in 1968 and the fatal accident of Gilles Villeneuve at Zolder in 1982.

« We don’t have a title because we’re still looking for one, » added Shevloff. « We’ve had different working titles, such as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ or ‘The Untitled F1 Doc’. We need to find something that implies a film rather than a documentary title. »