Motor racing fans were out in force on Tuesday evening for the special preview screening of Le Mans ’66 at Dublin’s Cineworld Imax.
Le Mans ’66 stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale and is based on the true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles.
The duo battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France in 1966.
Spotted at the special screening were Liam Cunningham, Models Natalia Petric Carl Shaaban and Monica Walsh.
Radio Nova’s Marty Miller and Clint Drieberg as well as film director Robbie Walsh were also in attendance.
In the US the film is called Ford v Ferrari, and director James Mangold told The Irish Times why.
“It’s simple. We couldn’t have that title in Britain without the permission of the owner of the trademarks,” he said.
“As it happens, Disney was happy to change it because they felt Le Mans meant more in Europe. Calling it Le Mans ‘66 in the US would be tricky because maybe one in 20 people know what that means. Titles are really hard. Particularly for bigger movies.”