Channing Tatum And Brad Pitt feel the need for speed.
The two A-listers and their respective companies have teamed up with a group of production banners to produce both a docuseries and a feature film focusing on the famous and dangerous Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle races.
Tatum's Free Association, Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, screenwriter Jason Keller, Entertainment 360's Guymon Casady and Box to Box Films are behind the companies, which aim to capture the growing global interest in a broad swath of the sports world worldwide. It also comes as more streamers, media companies and countries pour money into sports at the highest corporate levels.
The production banners will release these projects as a package later this year, according to Tuesday's announcement by the companies. Mediawan, the European media company and majority shareholder of Plan B, will be the docuseries' studio and direct International sale.
Isle of Man TT began in 1907 on the island between Ireland and Great Britain and, minus two world wars, has continued almost uninterrupted since then. A single lap of the course consists of 60km of the island's public roads, as the bikes tackle country lanes and city streets at speeds of up to 320km/h, the producers said.
Production on the docuseries started this week. Titled The largest race on earthit will focus on the Isle of Man TT race, which some are calling one of the most dangerous competitions in the world and will be held in June this year. Box to Box Films, behind racing documentary shows Drive to survive And Tour de France: unleashedco-produces with Plan B, Free Association, Entertainment 360 and Keller.
The same group will also develop a feature film package that will be released later this year. It is unclear whether Keller, who co-wrote the script for the 2019 Oscar-nominated racing film, Ford vs Ferrariwill write the script for the Isle of Man project.
Isle of Man races
Courtesy of Isle of Man TT Races
“We challenge anyone to find more awe-inspiring people or a more breathtakingly vibrant world than The Isle of Man TT,” Free Association principles Tatum, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan said in a statement. “We've always been drawn to characters who push the boundaries of what's possible, and this race is their Shangri-La. We are deeply honored to be part of the creative dream team telling the story of this legendary event, and can't wait to finally share this mythical sport we love with audiences around the world.”
The other producers were equally enthusiastic in their statements.
Pitt is already active in the racing film world, as he is currently shooting an untitled F1 film that Joseph Kosinski is directing. Pitt stars in the film, and he and Plan B are its producers. Free Association has Blink twice, the directorial debut of Zoe Kravitz, in theaters on August 23 from Amazon MGM. Casady most recently served as producer of the renowned and well-reviewed romantic adventure film The autumn man.