Ron Howard is taking on the world of sports car racing in "Rush."
The film is a biography of Niki Lauda, a Formula 1 driver in the 1970s who suffered a devastating crash that nearly killed him. Miraculously, he was able to return to racing weeks after being badly burned.
Daniel Brühl ("Inglourious Basterds") plays Lauda and Chris Hemsworth ("Thor") portrays his chief racing rival.
Howard won an Oscar for transplanting another true story to screen with "A Beautiful Mind," but the list of successful films about racing is scant. There's "Talladega Nights" and a few box office winners like "Days of Thunder" and "Cannonball Run" that made money but were excoriated by critics. The less said about other films that tried to capture the excitement of the sport like Sylvester Stallone's "Driven," the better.
"Rush" hits theaters on September 20, 2013.
