It looks as if Ron Howard is already hard at work on his next film RUSH, the story of racing legend Niki Lauda and his rivalry with British racing driver James Hunt back in the 1970s. Howard tweeted the following pic from the legendary Nurburgring circuit in northern Germany, a town where I have spent many a weekend with the ‘boys,’ a place where we call a kind of adult Disneyland without the funny characters and indeed many females, or children (which is for the best).

Actually, I lie when I say that there are not a lot of funny characters there; it’s full of them! Who could forget the funny Dutchman blowing a condom off the top of his head in the Fosters bar back in the ’02, or the extremely debaucherous evening the following year where I was deep in conversation with my good mate Steve with a middle aged (and very drunk) German man about European porn, when I was rudely interrupted by my old man crying for help drunkenly, crawling through the heavy F1 crowd, returning from a visit to the toilet. Remember that Dad? Thought not.

Still, I bet Ron’s not up to anything like that being a very important Hollywood filmmaker. Nope. Chris Hemsworth is playing James Hunt in the film (yes, really), with German actor Daniel Bruhl playing Lauda. It will hit next year, smack bang in the middle of the 2012 Formula One racing season.

Shooting takes place at the Nurbergring and Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England.

Financiers Cross Creek and Exclusive Media Group are behind the movie.

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