Can Opponauts Crowd Source a Proper Formula 1 Screenplay Drama?

"Group B-raaaaaaaaaap!" (AbarthGuy)
08/06/2013 at 17:36 • Filed to: Formula 1

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! list from Maté happened to touch upon the street racing scene from the 2001 film, Driven. Well not particularly good, but relatively watchable, I did get into a discussion with user !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about the lack of Formula One movies (aside from Grand Prix. Obvious answer is obvious).

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The vast majority of racing oriented films have been documentaries. While incredibly entertaining in their own right, they are also intrinsically esoteric, thus unlikely to generate ticket/DVD/digital sales beyond those most dedicated fans.

We all know !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is coming to theaters on September 27th (obligatory plug, and trailers !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .). But that is just one of the many, many great stories within the universe of F1. The remainder have been NASCAR or street racing themed action films, with racing being essentially a loose plot device. This is confusing to me, as I think racing, especially at the level of Formula 1, is incredibly dramatic. Friendships and rivalries abound, money, glamour, betrayal, politicking, crashes, deaths, near deaths, career enders, and so forth. Hell, Adrien Sutil stabbed a man at an after party. In the neck. With a champagne flute! Is that not dramatic enough? If not, then tell the Bernie Ecclestone story. It's way more salacious than even the film Wall Street could have been. There is goddam story telling gold here, Hollywood! And it's all real. I would think a Jacques Villeneuve biopic would be dramatic enough. Imagine, an 11-year old boy watches his father die while qualifying on TV, only to follow his footsteps into the very same sport. Not dramatic enough? How about a biopic about Ayrton Senna? His ups and downs on his way to becoming the fastest man in motorsport? His clashes with teammate Alain Prost. His pranks and shenanigans with Gerhard Berger (there was a story about Berger kicking Senna's brand new custom briefcase off a helicopter because Senna called it "Indestructible". In another prank, Senna filled the air conditioner in Berger's hotel room with rancid cheese). And there are countless rivalries that would make great (slightly fictionalized) script fodder; Vettel & Webbah, anyone?

What do you guys think? Could we crowdsource a legit Fomula 1 film from our vast knowledge of the sport? I think we could. In fact, I think we could write a series of F1 movies based on true stories (with some dramatic retelling, of course).

So, what stories would you guys want told?