American filmmaker Michael Mann is behind some of the most thrilling action and dramatic pieces of cinema from his film “Manhunter” introducing the world to Hannibal Lector years before “Silence of The Lambs” to the crime masterpiece “Heat,” the director seemingly has a sixth sense about what it takes to put extremely cool elements and imagery onto the big screen. Mann returns this year with “Ferrari” a film that explores the life of Formula 1 driver and car magnate, Enzo Ferrari, played by the dashing and aptly named Adam Driver (A role originally meant for Aussie actor Hugh Jackman).

A new first-look trailer (See below) has been released online and we now have a better idea of what to expect from the biopic, which will seemingly mix the elements of the thrill of racing alongside the equally dramatic home life of Ferrari. Joining Driver on the call sheet includes Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gordon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey.

The film also boasts Oscar-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who also worked on another film that will be screening at the Venice Film Festival with David Fincher’s assassin thriller “The Killer.”

NEON, the film’s distributor, has released the following synopsis for “Ferarri”:

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

While the film makes its debut at the Venice Film Festival, a fitting tribute to the Italian subject/setting, audiences will have to wait a bit longer to experience “Ferrari” for themselves as it will be released in theaters on Christmas.

You can watch the aforementioned trailer below.

SOURCE: NEON