Lauda film racing towards legal trouble

A film about Niki Lauda could be set for legal trouble, with an Austrian group claiming the formula one legend granted it the rights.

Well-known Hollywood filmmakers Ron Howard and Peter Morgan are already well advanced on the project entitled ’Rush’, focusing on Lauda’s legendary battle with serious injury and James Hunt in 1976.

But according to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper and the APA news agency, another group of filmmakers is claiming Lauda had already given away the rights to a screenplay about his career.

The other project was for a film called ’33 Days: To Hell And Back’, with Hannes Schalle claiming: "He (Lauda) was thrilled and promised us the rights.

"Now he denies everything."

The group has already sought a preliminary injunction, prompting Lauda to comment: "If that’s what they say, then I wish them good luck.

"Let’s see how it ends."