Christian Bale has agreed to star in director Michael Mann's Ferrari biopic, which the filmmaker has been trying to get off the ground for the past 15 years. Deadline reports that the project isn't set up at a studio yet, but it could very well find a home soon, with pre-sales at film festivals such as Telluride, Toronto and Venice coming up in the next few weeks. Michael Mann had once been collaborating on this project with late filmmaker Sydney Pollack, before he passed away in 2008.

Enzo Ferrari (Christian Bale) started out as a driver for Alfa Romeo in 1924, but he ended up leaving the company in the late 1930s to start his own company, Ferrari. The story takes place in 1957, a year described as one where "passion, failure, success and death and life all collided." While no specific story details were given, 1957 is the year when a Ferrari driver named Alfonso de Portago was killed during the Mille Miglia race. The driver and nine spectators died when a tire blew out and his car careened into the roadside crowd.

It isn't known if this particular part of Enzo Ferrari's life story will be told in the biopic, but it sounds like a safe bet. Ferrari, along with the tire manufacturer Englebert, was charged with manslaughter in a lengthy criminal case that was eventually dismissed in 1961. The Ferrari brand has earned over 5,000 victories on the world's tracks and roads throughout the company's illustrious run. Enzo Ferrari died on August 14th 1988 at the age of 90.

The project serves as a reunion for Christian Bale and Michael Mann, who last worked together on 2009's Public Enemies. Production won't start until next summer, so there is still plenty of time for a supporting cast to be assembled. Since there isn't much we know about the story, we're not sure what other figures from the racing world will be featured in this biopic.

There was another project that centered on Ferrari's rivalry with Ford at the annual 24-hour LeMans race entitled Go Like Hell, which once had Tom Cruise set to star, but we haven't heard anything about that project in some time. Christian Bale was set to star in The Deep Blue Good-by, until the project fell apart due to the actor's knee injury. The actor will next be seen in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups, and he is also starring in the upcoming adaptation of The Big Short alongside Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell.