A new Gilles Villeneuve film will arrive in Canadian cinemas on 11 November, bringing the early life and racing career of one of Ferrari’s most beloved Formula 1 drivers to the big screen. The official trailer for Gilles Villeneuve: Rise of a Champion has now been released, although details about a wider international launch remain uncertain.
The Canadian production will first receive a high-profile premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Rather than attempting to cover Gilles Villeneuve’s entire Formula 1 career, the film will concentrate primarily on his rise through snowmobile racing and Formula Atlantic before he became an enduring symbol of Ferrari.
Gilles Villeneuve film follows renewed interest in F1 stories
The project follows the success of Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie and, on a slightly smaller but no less influential scale, Netflix’s Drive to Survive. Those productions have helped audiences become accustomed to seeing Formula 1 stories presented through major cinema and streaming releases.
The championship’s expanding popularity in North America has also created an appetite for more personal and authentic racing stories, whether based entirely on real events or adapted with fictional elements. Not every new project will have the enormous budget and global reach of Brad Pitt’s film, but smaller productions could still appeal strongly to motorsport enthusiasts.
A sequel to the Oscar-winning F1 film is also being considered. Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed during a press conference that work is under way to develop a story worth telling, with future plans for Brad Pitt’s F1 movie continuing to attract attention.
While those discussions continue, more modest projects are beginning to emerge. The latest is this Canadian film about Gilles Villeneuve, which is scheduled to reach cinemas in his home country on 11 November.
Gilles Villeneuve: Rise of a Champion to premiere in Toronto
Gilles Villeneuve: Rise of a Champion is produced by Entract Films and distributed by the small Canadian independent company Les Films Opale. The two companies recently released the film’s official trailer.
The production will feature in the closing gala of the Toronto Film Festival and will receive its premiere during the event in Ontario, which is scheduled to run from 10 to 20 September.
Gilles Villeneuve, famously known in Italy as L’Aviatore—the Aviator—is played by Rémi Goulet. The 29-year-old Quebec actor is largely unknown internationally, but his physical resemblance to the unforgettable Canadian Ferrari driver is already evident in the trailer.
Watch the official Gilles Villeneuve film trailer
The official trailer for Gilles Villeneuve: Rise of a Champion can be watched below.
Film focuses on Gilles Villeneuve’s journey towards Formula 1
The film will not tell the complete story of Gilles Villeneuve’s Formula 1 career. Its main focus will instead be his beginnings in snowmobile racing and Formula Atlantic, retracing the formative years that eventually took him towards the pinnacle of motorsport.
However, the final part is likely to address his entry into Formula 1. The cast includes characters based on Enzo Ferrari, played by Frank Crudele, James Hunt, portrayed by Neil Webb, and Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri, played by Maurizio Terrazzano.
James Hunt was Gilles Villeneuve’s first Formula 1 team-mate when the Canadian made his debut for McLaren in 1977. That appearance ultimately helped open the path towards Maranello, although Gilles Villeneuve’s opportunity to join Ferrari was far from guaranteed.
The trailer indicates that the production may not have obtained—or may not have attempted to obtain—the rights required to recreate every automotive brand faithfully. In a scene showing Villeneuve at the wheel of a red car, the Ferrari Prancing Horse is replaced by two partially overlapping letter Ds.
The film’s depiction of his early Maranello period could nevertheless offer another perspective on the years in which the Canadian’s extraordinary talent and spectacular driving style began to emerge. Piero Ferrari has previously recalled how Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari legend nearly took a different direction during those formative seasons.
International release remains dependent on Canadian reception
The trailer shows that the film features dialogue in both French and English. For now, however, there is no detailed information about international distribution beyond its Canadian release or whether dubbed and adapted versions will be produced in other languages.
Its reception at the Toronto Film Festival could therefore play an important role in determining whether the Gilles Villeneuve film reaches cinemas or streaming platforms outside Canada.
Gilles Villeneuve: Rise of a Champion is not the first recent screen production dedicated to the Canadian driver. The Villeneuve–Pironi documentary previously revisited one of Formula 1’s most controversial and tragic rivalries.
Production changes delayed the Gilles Villeneuve biopic
The new film endured a difficult development process, as ItaliaRacing reported several months ago. Original director Daniel Roby left the production while work was already under way because of irreconcilable creative differences with the producers.
Yann Lanouette Turgeon subsequently took over as director, but both the budget and production schedule increased. The reported cost rose beyond 15 million Canadian dollars—described as nearly €7.5 million—which represents a significant investment for a Quebec production.
The delays also meant that the Gilles Villeneuve biopic missed its original release plans. The film was reportedly expected to reach audiences two years earlier.
It is not the only recent lower-budget project based on Formula 1 history. Netflix released the Brazilian series Senna in November 2024, while The Kaiser, a 25-minute short film about Michael Schumacher’s beginnings, is taking shape in Bulgaria.
The upcoming Canadian release will now reveal whether a more intimate account of Gilles Villeneuve’s journey can capture audiences in the same way that major Formula 1 productions have done. Its performance in Toronto and Quebec may ultimately determine whether the Aviator’s story reaches viewers around the world.
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