From Batman to Enzo

Christian Bale, best known for playing Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy, has signed on to portray Enzo Ferrari in an upcoming movie about the legendary automotive icon.

The movie is said to be based on the Brock Yates-penned book Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races. The film will be directed by Michael Mann, who also directed The Last of the Mohicans and the bio-pic Ali and produced The Aviator about Howard Hughes' life.

Ferrari died in 1988 at the age of 90, and there has been speculation of a movie about him ever since. One film, called Ferrari, was produced in 2003. Robert De Niro reportedly has agreed to star in the lead role in another movie of the same name based on Enzo's autobiography.

Filming of the Bale movie is due to begin next summer. It will be set in 1957 the year a Ferrari 335S race car blew a tire and fatally crashed into the roadside crowd during the famed Mille Miglia endurance race. The crash killed the driver and passenger and nine spectators, including five children

Ferrari and the tire manufacturer were charged and tried for manslaughter. The case was dismissed in 1961.