Shelby on the Big Screen (feature)

[Historybuff]

Tho I try to keep track of Hollywood somehow I missed the story in Variety on May 3rd that Paramount is finally going to do something with the rights they have to the Shelby story and do a feature (as opposed to something for the small screen). Here's the whole story from Variety. Now I hope to do further research to find out filming start date, release date, casting (I notminate Adam Carolla as Shelby), director, and whose Cobras will be "cast?"
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Daily Variety

May 3, 2011

TOP NEWS; Film; Pg. 1

451 words


H'WOOD HAS AUTO FOCUS


Never mind that gas is heading toward $5 per gallon by summer. Hollywood's love affair with the automobile is just heating up, as the success of Universal's "Fast and Furious" franchise has every studio looking for its own car-themed hit.

Once a staple of the studio slate, films featuring four-wheeled action had fallen out of favor in recent years, after pricey box office underperformers like Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "Gone in 60 Seconds" and the Joel Silver-produced "Speed Racer" at Warner Bros.

But U's "Fast Five," the fifth installment in the decade-old series, proves that auds - particularly young men - still thirst for high-octane car chases. The film, with its multi-ethnic cast and overseas appeal, has already nabbed $168 million worldwide. In the U.S, ethnic auds accounted for a healthy 65% of the gross, helping the pic become thebiggest opener of the year.

"I am very pleasantly surprised that the franchise has had such legs," said "Fast Five" producer Neal Moritz. "But these films are perfect popcorn fare. They are very escapist."

Other studios have taken notice:

Warner Bros. has high hopes for a potential "Hot Wheels" franchise, based on the toy cars from Mattel. Silver is on board to produce.

n The Weinstein Co. is in active development on a bigscreen incarnation of 1980s TV series "Knight Rider."

n Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are developing a remake of the 1976 action comedy "Eat My Dust." Howard starred in the Roger Corman-produced original.

n There are at least three pics in development centering on Italian sports-car designer Enzo Ferrari. Fox is moving forward on "Race to the Death," based on the true story of the rivalry between the Ford Motor Co. and Ferrari. Paramount is shepherding "Street Legal," which chronicles the story of racecar driver Carroll Shelby, who rose from humble beginnings to take Le Mans title from Ferrari. And Michael Mann is attached to direct and produce a Ferrari biopic.

"If they are good movies with interesting, original characters and a fresh new take on the car genre film, then why not?" Moritz said.

Meanwhile, two more gas-fueled blockbusters loom this summer: Paramount/DreamWorks' "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and Disney/Pixar's "Cars 2."

As for U, scribe Chris Morgan is already penning a "Fast & Furious 6," and a greenlight seems a no-brainer, with auds showing no signs of fatigue (though "Fast Five's" marketing campaign played up the film's heist angle in an effort to keep the series feeling fresh, says a U exec). New addition Dwayne Johnson's contract doesn't call for him to reprise his role in a sixth outing, but Moritz said Johnson is a huge fan of the films and would likely return.

May 3, 2011

[computerworks]

Paramount is shepherding "Street Legal,"

What is the story based on? Book? Orig screenplay?

[Mark IV]

What ever happened to the screenplay George Damon Levy wrote about Shelby back around 1990? SAAC printed a small section of it in the magazine.

[Got the Bug]

I remember reading that A.J. Baime's book Go Like Hell had been optioned for a movie. Great Read...even if you know the ending.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

I remember reading that A.J. Baime's book Go Like Hell had been optioned for a movie. Great Read...even if you know the ending.

I heard from a usually reliable source that the film based on AJ's book is on hold due to the other Shelby bio-pic that is in the works. This was relayed in a discussion at the Shelby American museum gathering in Dec, 2010. Things do change. I'd asked AJ and he answered some other questions but not that one and I didn't push it.

[Historybuff]

From a website called Dub Daily Fast Five Opens the Flood Gates to a Gush of Upcoming Automotive Flicks | DUB Daily

"The Spring blockbuster, Fast Five, has pulled in $168 million dollars worldwide since opening day, and just about every production studio in America is making some sort of gearhead related film to follow it up.

•Universal- “Fast & Furious 6,” Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Dwayne Johnson are likely to return (In Development)
•Weinstein Co- “Knight Rider,” based on the 80′s television show (In Development)
•FOX Studios- “Race to the Death,” based on the rivalry between Ford Motor Company and Ferrari (In Development)
•Paramount- “Street Legal,” based on the life story of racecar driver, Carroll Shelby (In Development)
•Imagine Entertainment- “Eat My Dust,” based on the 1976 action/comedy (In Development)
•Warner Brothers- “Hot Wheels,” based on the Hot Wheels toy cars made by Mattel (Pre-Production)
•Paramount- “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Summer 2011)
•DreamWorks- “Cars 2” (Summer 2011)
(Story via Variety.com) "
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This poster is of two minds about the title "Street Legal" because it sounds like the question you ask when you see a race car on the street, not race cars on the race track but maybe it's just me...Conversely I always thought the coolest thing was to have a full bore race car on the street, I remember seeing a guy with a Lola T70 on the street, and another time two McLaren Can Am cars and I had rides in the McLaren M6BGT and the Ferrari Breadvan, both race cars on the street.

[Learjockey1]

1966 Lola T70 Spyder Mark II, my dream car. Along with a Miura.

I'll stop. Do not want to hijack the thread.

Movies are good for the industry. I hope they do not take too much "poetic license".

[Historybuff]

I think if it's a drama set in the mileau of a certain period of racing
it will all be poetic license, i.e. made up. But that doesn't mean it can't be realistic. I think in the film Saving Private Ryan there was a real person similar to Private Ryan in real life but yet the movie was a drama with fictional characters.

Like you , I hope that the real events of the '50s or '60s are depicted. For instance I have read precious little about the '55 crash at LeMans--where more than 80 spectators were killed when a Mercedes SLR crashed into the grandstand-- and yet I have only seen one comment by the Americans who were racing that year--when one of Briggs Cunningham's crew rolled into the pits and said he was quitting racing on the spot. I'd like to see a lot of these famous events--win, lose or draw--told from the more personal standpoints of individuals.

One of my favorite WWII movies is Battle of Britain , set in WWII but with all fictional characters (except the high commanders like RAF head Dowding, Churchill, etc.) but I think it pretty much conveys what that period was like.

Of course now that we have gyroscopically controlled cameras (Steadicam) the mass audience will see new shots of old racing cars that vastly increases their appreciation of the race cars of the Fifties and Sixties compared to the old photography of films like Grand Prix, McQueen's LeMans, etc. I hope not too much cgi is used as that can ruin a good moment if it's detected by the viewers.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Historybuff

I think in the film Saving Private Ryan there was a real person similar to Private Ryan in real life but yet the movie was a drama with fictional characters.

Niland brothers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Historybuff]

In this story they no longer mention that ridiculous title "Race to the Death" that was being bandied about earlier. Michael Mann is most famous for Miami Vice, theTV show and movie. This article I found on the net is printed verbatum.
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Michael Mann in talks for film about '67 Le Mans

Pamela McClintock Reuters
4:16 p.m. CDT, May 27, 2011

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael Mann is in talks with 20th Century Fox to develop and potentially direct "Go Like Hell," the real-life story of the famous competition between the Ford Motor Co. and Ferrari that led to Ford winning the Le Mans in 1967.


Ford was the first American car maker to win the world's oldest car race, held annually in France. For years, Ferrari had dominated the contest.

Based on A.J. Baime's book, the Fox project recounts how a young Henry Ford II -- determined to infuse new life into his family's company -- decided to get into the European racing scene.

With the help of racer Carroll Shelby and Lee Iacocca, Ford built and designed a car that could take on Ferrari cars, known for their speed and style. They ultimately won the Le Mans.

Insiders say the initial idea was for Mann to develop the script.

[Maricopa]

So it's gonna be a courtroom thriller?