Mike Hailwood Movie

[Dallara]

Just got this today...

It's a press release that was on Autosport, and I got via RaceFax, about a movie being made about the life of Mike Hailwood.




Hollywood to film Hailwood movie
Autosport, March 3rd 2006, 14:23 GMT

The life of former Grand Prix driver Mike Hailwood, who is regarded as one of the best motorbike racers of all time, is to be turned into a Hollywood film.

American company Infinity Media have obtained the rights to Hailwood's life story from his widow Pauline. No release schedule has been announced, but the film will be produced by Michael Ohoven and written by Paul Pender.

Hailwood won nine World Championships on bikes, but failed to achieve the same success on four wheels.

After dabbling in car racing in the early 1960's, he returned to four wheels full-time at the end of the decade and went on to win the 1972 European Formula Two championship for fellow bike racer John Surtees' team.

That same season he came close to grabbing a maiden Grand Prix win, after pressuring Jackie Stewart for the lead in South Africa before his suspension broke and then appearing well on his way at Monza before the airbox blew off his car.

Hailwood suffered a more difficult 1973 campaign, with his only memorable moment being when he rescued Clay Regazzoni from his burning car in South Africa to earn the George Medal.

He switched to McLaren in 1974 and ran competitively before he suffered leg injuries in a crash at the German Grand Prix. It ended his F1 career, although he returned briefly to bikes before being killed in a car crash near his home in 1981.




Man, I hope it turns out to be a good one!

Cheers!

Allan (Dallara - NACD)

[DarthRider]

Hot damn!
First a movie about Burt Munro, now Mike the Bike!

When we get the MotoLit section set up I will post a "long short-story" written by a friend of mine who lives near Fort Worth/Dallas and was Hailwood's girlfriend for 8 or 9 years during the peak of his motorcycle racing career and part of his car racing career, before he was married to Pauline.

This is a great story with a lot of top level racing "behind the scenes" and personal glimpses of Mike that he didn't show the public. Stories about Ago, Surtees, Grant and many of the other top racers of his era. Stories of Honda Sixes! (We will have to wrap Allan and Simon in wet sheets!)

She also has a very large collection of images of Mike and other souvenirs. I'm sure she would love for us to run her story and let us use some of the images, some of which have never been published anywhere.

Dave

[Sir Limpsalot]

Oh yes PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
I remain firmly convinced that he is the "Best Ever" (give me half a chance and I'll tell you exactly why!).
Run your friend's story and I'll follow up with "the fans perspective!"
Si

[RiceBurner]

Oh feck.

I seriously hope they don't americanise it too much. :( (if it's anything like Days of Thunder et al I'll be SERIOUSLY pissed off). I used to know his son (went to school with him).

[DJ Down Under]

It sounds great...I wonder if Tom Cruise is avalable..maybe even Nichole Kidman...:003:...Ducati should be happy.

I wonder if the success of The Worlds Fastest Indian had anything to do with them giving it the go ahead.

DJ

[BobFV1]

Oh feck.

I seriously hope they don't americanise it too much. :( (if it's anything like Days of Thunder et al I'll be SERIOUSLY pissed off). I used to know his son (went to school with him).

Check - "Days of Thunder" was about the worst POS movie ever made, even worse than that open-wheel racing movie with Sylvester Stallone a few years ago.

Let's hope for another "indian" quality movie!

[Sir Limpsalot]

That's a very good point. I recall reading a couple of years ago that Hollywood was to remake the "Dambusters". Only thing was, the Guy Gibson role was to be re-written. The raid would be led by a Texan called "Bud".
Thankfully it came to nothing. I hope.
Maybe the memory of the great man is best left alone.
Si.

[Dallara]

BobFV1 said:



"Check - "Days of Thunder" was about the worst POS movie ever made, even worse than that open-wheel racing movie with Sylvester Stallone a few years ago."


Nope, Nope, Nope... NO WAY!

No movie, ever in the entire history of man or the cinema, was ever close to being as stupid, moronic, idiotic, nauseating (or is it nauseous), terrible, hideous, bilious, offensive, mindless, beyond believability, insulting, degrading, supercilious, limaceous, poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly scripted, poorly photographed, poorly produced, contrived, sickening, pompous, or a bigger POS than Sylvester Stallone's cartoon fantasy "Driven"...

I mean PUH-LEEZE... When was the last time you saw an Indy car, fueled with Methanol burst into bright, orange flame... Or an Indy car, which has no internal starter, fire up from the cockpit and take off down a city street chase???

GEEZ! "Days of Thunder" at least had Randy Quaid as the team owner and Robert Duvall as the chief mechanic/team manager... With "Driven" you got Burt Reynolds in a wheelchair with more facelifts than Elezabeth Taylor!

And does anybody remember the "quarter trick" from "Driven" ???

Folks, I was THERE, and ain't nobody, nowhere, no-time EVER thrown quarters out of an Indy car all over the track and then *picked 'em up" with the tires to impress his engineer!!!

"Days of Thunder" was a virtual DOCUMENTARY compared to "DRIVEN"...

And the dialogue was 100 times closer to what you actually hear around race car shops and the pits than the mindless fluff speeches from "Driven"...

Bob, I am apalled at your preference of "Driven" over DOT... Now I am beginning to wonder about you... :icon_rolleyes:

Most definitely "Days of Thunder" was a small, singular piece of excrement, but "Driven" was a huge, steaming, stinking, worm-laced, peanut-laden, runny, lumpy, green and grotesque PILE of diarrheal fecal matter...

Whew! Okay... Rant over... Sorry... But I do feel better now...

On another note, if the Mike Hailwood flick is as bad as "Driven" I promise you all I will personally hunt down the director, producers, screen writer and any and all actors from the film and torture them until they beg for death or dismemberment.

Thanks!

Allan (Dallara - NACD)

[supermotoC]

Oh, well, then I take it Allan has never seen the cerebral, award winning "Torque"?

[Dallara]

Nope, Collyer...

Fortunately I was warned about "Torque" in advance, and have purposely avoided it at all costs from the info I got about it.

Hard to believe it could be worse than Stallone's "Driven", though...

YUCK!

Cheers!

Allan (Dallara - NACD)

[fnfalman]

:icon_redface: I re-watched Biker Boyz this last weekend.:037:

[RiceBurner]

On another note, if the Mike Hailwood flick is as bad as "Driven" I promise you all I will personally hunt down the director, producers, screen writer and any and all actors from the film and torture them until they beg for death or dismemberment.

Thanks!

Allan (Dallara - NACD)


I'll join you.

[RiceBurner]

:icon_redface: I re-watched Biker Boyz this last weekend.:037:
go wash your mouth out!!!!

[DJ Down Under]

If I ever bump into Stallone...I'm going to ask for my two hours back...I love car racing..expecally F1 and Indi...Driven was a SHOCKER!!!...what were they thinking.

DJ

[Wild Will]

Wow, I learned a new word! This is cool. Motorcycles and an education. My first wife was limaceous too, after a few years. Thanks, Allan, and Dave for the invitation to the forum.

[geechie]

My first wife was limaceous too, after a few years.
I think you can get something that cuts that stuff. Plain distilled white vinegar works pretty well too.

George

[Deans BMW]

Several of my Ex wives were limaceous .