On track to win the World Championship in 1982, Gilles Villeneuve dies in a terrible crash during a qualifying race. The film starts fifteen years later, in Jerez, Portugal, with his son Jacques preparing to race for the coveted title of World Champion. During these preparations – time is suspended – leading us back to the story of his father Gilles, a driver whose skill and daring personified the ideals of Grand Prix racing.

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For most of his career, Jacques has avoided answering questions about his father, Gilles. But he’s finally agreed to participate in a feature film that will look at the human drama in the lives of the father and son Formula One drivers.

The film, simply called ‘Villeneuve’, is to begin production this year and has a budget of more than $30 million according to its producer Gabriella Martinelli.

"When I started my career, it was difficult to talk about my father," Jacques said at a press conference at Newtown when the film was announced. "I was getting a lot of attention from the media and public, but not because I had achieved anything. That was a bit embarrassing. People looked at me like they were seeing my father's ghost. I was very proud to be Gilles Villeneuve's son, but I wanted to achieve something myself."  
 
He said the pressure eased after he won the 1997 championship with the Williams team and he showed more of this with the demonstration run at the Goodwood Festival where he drove his father’s old Ferrari and wore one of Gilles’ old race helmets – a unique and memorable moment!

Jacques also said that the film will dissolve the notion that he resented his father. "No one knows about my relationship with my dad," he said (he was 11 when Gilles died). "The misconception was that people thought I hated him and didn't want to be part of his life and that's totally wrong. He was always my hero. But I was doing the same job as him and I was doing it for myself. I tried to keep them separate and that's not what people wanted to hear. They wanted to hear Gilles again and were annoyed that I wasn't willing to give them that."

While Jacques didn't get the chance to learn much about driving from his father, he said the two shared a passion for speed and risk. But cars, drivers, tracks and rules have evolved so that racing is safer these days. "If he was driving in the 1990s, he'd still be a driver and if I was driving in the 1970s, I'd be dead," Jacques said.

The film, made by Capri Films, will follow the career of Gilles, the dashing driver from Berthierville who was killed in a crash during practice for the Belgium Grand Prix in 1982, and the rise of his son Jacques to become world champion. The film is based on the book Villeneuve: The Life of the Legendary Driver, by Gerald Donaldson. It is to be directed by Christian Duguay from Montreal, while Malcolm Clarke of Britain has written the script. "This is a human drama with a backdrop of Formula One racing," said Duguay. "It's the story of Gilles from his son's point of view."

Jacques will act as a consultant to the filmmakers, but actors will be hired to play the drivers. We await news on the casting later in the year and the start of production.

Craig Pollock said he had received at least ten requests over the years from people who hoped to do a film or TV mini-series on the father and son, but they were all turned down. "This was different - Jacques will have his say," said Craig. "This film would happen whether you like it or not. Everything about Gilles is in the public domain and neither Jacques nor the family could stop it. So the best thing is to be involved, to act as consultant and try to control what happens inside the script."

We’re looking forward to further news and the film’s eventual release in 2007.

PRODUCER: Gabriella Martinelli
WRITER: Malcolm Clark
DIRECTOR: Christian Douguay
PRODUCTION: Spring/Summer 2006
RELEASE DATE: 2007

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