In a move that will thrill racing and movie fans around the world, Barrie M. Osborne has been chosen to be the producer of the upcoming story of Formula One racing great Bruce McLaren (1937-1970). Osborne was the producer or executive producer of The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and The Big chill.
Osborne, who like McLaren, is from New Zealand, said that the tremendously emotional and inspiring story is one that had to be told, saying "McLaren, a New Zealander, was one of the world's pre-eminent sportsmen. His name is still synonymous with the international motor sport scene through Team McLaren Mercedes."
Co-producing the movie with Osborne with be Michael Garlick, a prolific producer and director with over 350 television broadcasts to his credit. He's been working on the film project behind the scenes for years.
McClaren and his racing team dominated Formula 1 racing, especially in the late 1960s to 1971. McClaren himself was crippled with Perthes Disease (hip joint) and he never lost the limp throughout his life.
There is painstaking research and consultation among McClaren's family, friends and colleagues to make this as accurate as possible.
This promises to be a great movie if it indeed stays on tract. It's not the type of story you would need to embellish to make entertaining and inspiring.
The production designer for the film will be Dan Hennah, who was art director from Lord of the Rings, King Kong and The Frighteners.
Pre-production for the film will require all of this year, and filming is scheduled to begin in early 2008.
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