Tracy Letts to Play Henry Ford II in Ford vs. Ferrari Movie

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Tracy Letts will play Henry Ford II in Fox’s untitled Ford vs. Ferrari movie, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale.

“Logan” director James Mangold is helming from a script by screenwriters Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (“Edge of Tomorrow”).

The film follows an eccentric, determined team of American engineers and designers, led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his British driver, Ken Miles (Bale), who are dispatched by Ford Motor Company chief Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca on the Ford GT40 mission — building from scratch an entirely new automobile with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans world championship in France.

The initiative was created partly in response to Henry Ford II’s lengthy negotiations with Enzo Ferrari to buy Ferrari in order to expand Ford’s presence in motorsport in general and at Le Mans. Negotiations collapsed in 1963 due to disputes over control over Ferrari’s racing division.

Caitriona Balfe will portray Miles’ wife, Noah Jupe will play their son, and Jon Bernthal will portray Iacocca. Chernin Entertainment is producing. The California Film Commission awarded the feature $17 million in tax credits to film in California, where the production is expected to spend more than $78 million. Fox has dated the still-untitled project for release on June 28, 2019.

Letts’ recent credits include “Lady Bird,” “The Post,” Showtime’s “Homeland,” and HBO’s “Divorce.” He won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play “August: Osage County” and a Tony Award for the revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Letts is represented by Innovative Artists. The news was first reported by Deadline.