Will this Netflix star play Lee Iacocca in new Ford vs. Ferrari film?
Julie Hinds
The Punisher as Lee Iacocca? Well, he is built Ford tough.
Jon Bernthal, who plays vigilante hero Frank Castle in Netflix’s “The Punisher,” is in negotiations to portray auto industry legend Lee Iacocca in a major new movie, according to Variety.
The yet-to-be-titled drama will center on a clash of car titans, specifically Ford Motor Company's effort in the 1960s to build a car capable of dethroning rival Ferrari at the famous Le Mans endurance competition in France.
Matt Damon is set to play innovative auto designer Carroll Shelby in the project, while Christian Bale will play race car driver Ken Miles.
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The real-life story has also been made into a documentary that screened last year at the Freep Film Festival. "The 24 Hour War" won the Spirit of Michigan Award for its history of Henry Ford II's quest to beat the Italian automaker at LeMans. It was co-directed by comedian/podcaster Adam Carolla.
The Ford vs. Ferrari movie has been approved for an estimated $16.9 million in production tax credits in California, which will double as several other locations, including Michigan. The movie is expected to spend more than $78 million in California and shoot there for a little over two months.
Michigan ended its film incentives program in 2015.
Iacocca, who's 93, relocated from Michigan to Los Angeles not long after retiring from Chrysler in 1992.
Bernthal (who also co-starred in AMC’s “The Walking Dead”) is an unexpected choice to play the business icon who led the development of the Mustang at Ford and later drove Chrysler away from bankruptcy and toward financial success as its commercial-starring CEO. Bernthal's on-screen image is more brooding and brawny than corporate boardroom.
Would someone else be more believable in the role? Say, blue-collar hero Mark Wahlberg, or charismatic Leo DiCaprio or character actor Michael Stuhlbarg ("The Shape of Water"), who's a young Iacocca lookalike?
To paraphrase Iacocca's own 1980s Chrysler catch-phrase, if you find a better actor, hire him.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture writer Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.