Netflix has gone all-in on F1. Apart from it being the progeny behind the “drive to survive” F1 documentary series that has been airing for the last two years, it has also promised a biopic series on the legendary Ayrton Senna. More recently, it even had a documentary on the life of 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Now, it has roped in legendary actor Robert De Niro and John Boyega of Star Wars fame to develop a fictional thriller based on F1 called the Formula.
The story of the Formula revolves around an American F1 driver who gets involved with the mafia and is forced to serve as a getaway driver to save his family. Interestingly, the original will be written, directed, and produced by Gerard McMurray who has also worked on Burning Sands which won the grand jury prize at the 2018 Sundance Festival.
Netflix has roped in the legendary Robert De Niro for one of the lead roles
McMurray recently also formed Buppie productions with the intent of “developing and producing stories featuring black characters for a mainstream film and television audience.”
“Our company is constantly reinventing itself while charting a path to influence popular culture. We are the heroes and the villains, the good guys, bad guys, femme Fatales and girls next door,” he said.
“Feels amazing to see this idea in my head finally come to life that I’m writing, directing, and producing,” he wrote. “My new production company Buppie Productions is teaming up with Tribeca Films and Netflix to bring to you a dope original film coming soon called THE FORMULA starring two of my favorite actors, John Boyega and Robert De Niro,” added McMurray.
“It’s the story of a young man from Detroit who becomes an international racing star in the world of Formula 1 under the tutelage of his mentor with old mob ties,” he revealed.
Netflix is home to the new Juan Manuel Fangio documentary apart from it developing a biopic on Senna.
Of course, the CV of Robert De Niro is unprecedented who is best known for his work in the Godfather trilogy and also movies like Taxi Driver, Casino, Heat, and more recently the Netflix original the Irishman.
John Boyega rose to fame only five years ago thanks to his central role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy with Disney.
In the last decade with the advent of the Senna documentary, movies about motorsports have become popular with Rush based on the Nikki Lauda and James Hunt rivalry gaining popularity in the last decade alongside Ford vs Ferrari more recently from 2019.