Ecclestone to take F1 to Hollywood with big screen movie?

The progression of Formula 1 from its origins all the way through to the present day could be set to hit the big screen at last with Bernie Ecclestone mulling over the idea of taking the sport to Hollywood.

It has been revealed by Pitpass that the top flight's supremo and commercial rights-holder is in negotiations with a film studio across the Pond about making a movie tracing F1's story from the official inception of the world championship back in 1950 to the new millennium.

Ecclestone claims that whilst the end product would be in the style of a documentary, 'it will not effectively be a documentary', adding of the discussions: "We've been talking to them for a long time, about doing a film from the old days all the way through."

F1 has inspired a number of big screen adaptations in the past. The 1966 movie Grand Prix starred James Garner and featured cameo appearances from many of the leading drivers of the day such as late world champions Graham Hill and Phil Hill, whilst 1977 effort Bobby Deerfield starring Al Pacino, directed by Sydney Pollack and featuring Carlos Pace's Brabham was not a success, Ecclestone reasons, 'because the American producers got hold of it - they wanted to turn it into a love story'.

An attempt by Sylvester Stallone to make an F1 movie in the late 1990s based on the late, great Ayrton Senna was scuppered by the FIA's insistence on proofing the script to make sure it would not portray the sport in any kind of negative light, and Stallone's desire to keep the rights to the film, with the project finally falling apart over a failure to agree financial terms. The Rambo and Rocky star subsequently switched his focus to Champ Cars, the result of which was the widely panned 2001 release Driven. According to Ecclestone, 'Sly' has no involvement with the current initiative.