Ferrari Biopic is scheduled for release on Christmas Day in the United States

In his latest movie, American actor Adam Driver dons an Italian accent once more to portray Formula 1 legend Enzo Ferrari in a new biopic that veteran director Michael Mann is directing and will premiere in the USA on Christmas Day.

“Ferrari,” which is set in Modena, Italy in 1957, centers on a pivotal time in the life of the former race car driver as he battles to keep his business afloat, comes to terms with the death of his son and tries to rule the track.

Driver, who portrayed Italian fashion scion Maurizio Gucci in “House of Gucci,” plays the title role, while Penelope Cruz, a Spanish actress, plays Laura, the wife of Ferrari.

At the film’s UK premiere, Driver said, “Definitely there was an added pressure because we were shooting it in Modena and the Ferrari iconography is very obvious as well as people reminding you on a daily basis how much Ferrari means to that area specifically in Italy, not to mention Italy overall. So the pressure … was on to kind of get it right.”

In addition, American actor Patrick Dempsey plays Italian racing driver Piero Taruffi in the movie, while actress Shailene Woodley plays Lina Lardi, Ferrari’s mistress and the mother of his surviving son, Piero.

His persona participates in the thrilling, high-speed sequences featuring the red sports cars vying for the prestigious Mille Miglia road race throughout Italy.

“Normally you take actors, you do additional dialogue recording,” Mann said of sound work on the movie. “We were doing additional car sounds with real cars.”

The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and will be released in theaters nationwide on December 25.