Mumbai: – Cross Creek Pictures president Brian Oliver and Exclusive Media Group co-chairmen Guy East and Nigel Sinclair will be co-financing director Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film Rush.

This marks the third collaboration between Exclusive and Cross Creek, who are also co-producing the picture with Imagine Entertainment, Working Title and Revolution Films, with Howard, Oliver, Brian Grazer, Eric Fellner, Peter Morgan and Andrew Eaton as producers. Nigel Sinclair, Guy East and Tobin Armbrust will executive produce. Imagine’s Todd Hallowell will also Executive Produce. Morgan penned the script for Rush.
 
Principal photography is set to begin on 9 September, 2011 in the UK and Germany. The film will be shot in and around two legendary Formula 1 tracks in Silverstone and Nürburgring.
 
Exclusive Films International, under East and Alex Walton, will handle international distribution. The film is being unveiled for sales at the Toronto International Film Festival.
 
Set against the 1970’s golden age of Formula 1 racing, Rush portrays the true story of two of the greatest rivalries the sport has ever witnessed – that of James Hunt (Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Brühl) and their Formula 1 racing teams, McLaren and Ferrari. An English playboy, Hunt could not be more different from his reserved and methodical opponent, Austrian born Lauda. Rush follows their personal lives both on and off the track and charts their rivalry from its inception in Formula 3.  Here they competed against each other until Lauda’s business acumen and surgeon like precision behind the wheel propelled him all the way to Formula 1; eventually landing him the number one spot at Ferrari. It was not long before Hunt fought his way into Formula 1, and into the hearts of a nation, seizing the championship from Lauda and proving to the critics, and himself, that there was real substance beneath the stylish exterior.
 
“This is one of the greatest stories set in one of the world’s greatest sports; add Ron Howard’s singular ability to grip you with emotion, drama and thrill, and we are off to a Grand Prix race. Exclusive is thrilled to be working with the dream team of producers from Cross Creek, Imagine, Revolution Films, and Working Title and it’s a privilege to get to work with Peter,” says Sinclair.
 
“Rush is Howard’s first independent picture for over 25 years and we are y proud to present him and the film to our international distribution partners. He has attracted an outstanding cast for Peter Morgan’s screenplay and we feel confident in the success of this movie,” adds East.