Earlier this month, Paul Greengrass was reportedly intrigued by the idea of directing Rush, a Peter Morgan-scripted, fact-based Formula One drama that chronicles a chaotic time in the racing career of Austrian champ Niki Lauda. But with Greengrass seemingly having been lured away by a tale of real-life pirates, there’s a new man looking to take over the directorial driver’s seat for Rush, with Ron Howard now in early talks.
Rush focuses on Lauda’s terrifying crash in 1976, an incident that nearly killed him, but saw him emerge from the hospital six weeks later with horrific burns and minus his right ear, so that he could continue his intense, bitter rivalry with British driver James Hunt.
While the film is still at an early stage and Howard is only considering the job right now, it would see him reunited with Morgan, who wrote Frost/Nixon. And though Howard is still attached to direct the sprawling, epic, multi-film/TV series adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, Variety notes that he’s been punting around for other assignments in case there are more delays in building the Tower project. Plus, Howard is one of those directors that always like to have a lot of possibilities jostling for attention in his cinematic in-tray...