Actor Miles Teller (“The Gorge”) is assembling another buzzed-about film project heading to the European Film Market in Berlin, Germany. This latest film, as reported by Variety, is a biopic about Gino Bartali and his exploits as a cyclist alongside becoming a heroic resistance fighter during WWII in Italy.
“Bartali” has a script written by Karen Tenkhoff (“The Motorcycle Diaries”) with “Nyad” directors E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin at the helm. The filmmaking duo previously won a Best Documentary Oscar statue in 2019 for “Free Solo.”
A compelling real-life story, “Bartali,” will explore the renowned Italian cyclist who won both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France (he would go on to win those races again post-WWII). He became Italy’s most famous cyclist before WWII, and the Nazi threat dominated Europe as the athlete used his fame to carry messages to the Italian Resistance.
Another dramatic element to Bartali’s story was that during the war, he was also helping Jews persecuted by the Nazis, and it was revealed in 2010 that he had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar, saving their lives in the process.
north.five.six is launching the film package at the EFM alongside CAA Media Finance, which reps for North American rights.
Other projects in the Fire for Teller include a survival thriller, “Wild Game,” co-starring Casey Affleck. The talented actor is also poised to participate in a gestating sequel to “Top Gun: Maverick” as his hot-shot pilot Rooster, and Apple Studios is releasing his supernatural action flick “The Gorge” from director Scott Derrickson (“Doctor Strange”) this week.
This notable biopic feels like a combination of Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken,” which featured an Olympic athlete turned prison of war in the Pacific camping of U.S. forces and could echo elements from Paul Veroheven’s Dutch resistance thriller “Black Book.”
It remains to be seen who they will cast alongside Teller in supporting roles in the WWII movie, but there is an indication this could be an awards-caliber project and could attract acting talent from around the globe.
