Christian Bale will play Italian racer and auto mogul Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann's long-developing biopic. The two previously collaborated on 2009's "Public Enemies."

Deadline describes the drama as a passion project for Mann, who's been trying to make the film for nearly 15 years.

The film is set in 1957, which the website calls "a year where passion, failure, success and death and life all collided." Notably, that's when, during the Mille Miglia open-road endurance race, a Ferrari 335S crashed into a roadside crowd, killing the driver, co-driver and nine spectators. Enzo Ferrari was prosecuted for manslaughter, but those charges were dismissed four years later.