Olivia Wilde has joined the cast of Ron Howard’s next, Rush, Deadline reports. She will play supermodel Suzy Miller in the Formula 1 biopic opposite Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl. Whats more, Russell Crowe is also said to be up for a cameo part, playing actor Richard Burton.
The film, which began shooting last month, features a script from Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) and is officially described as follows:
Set against the 1970’s golden age of Formula 1 racing, “Rush” portrays the fast-paced and exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivalries the sport has ever witnessed that of James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Brühl) and their illustrious Formula 1 racing teams, McLaren and Ferrari. A privileged, charismatic and handsome English playboy, Hunt could not be more different from his reserved and methodical opponent, Austrian born Lauda. “Rush” follows their personal lives both on and off the track and charts their rivalry from its inception in Formula 3. Here they competed viciously against each other until Lauda’s business acumen and surgeon like precision behind the wheel propelled him all the way to Formula 1; eventually landing him the number one spot at Ferrari. However it was not long before rambunctious golden boy Hunt fought his way into Formula 1, and into the hearts of a nation, dramatically seizing the championship from Lauda and proving to the critics, and more importantly himself, that there was real substance beneath the stylish exterior.
In real life, Hunt married Miller but, after she met and fell in love with Burton, Burton famously paid out the million dollar divorce settlement himself.
Wilde appeared earlier this year in The Change-Up and Cowboys & Aliens with Butter and Better Living Through Chemistry among the projects on her ever-growing slate. Crowe, who is not yet a lock, is set to appear in RZA’s directing debut, The Man with the Iron Fists, Allen Hughes’ Broken City, Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel and the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, Les Misérables.
(Photo Credit: Apega / WENN.com)
