Filipino movie goers are in for a high-speed treat this 2013 as “Rush,” the Hollywood recreation of the notable 1970’s rivalry between Formula 1 racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, is set to hit the big screen.

The epic action-drama film stars Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda, and is directed by two-time Academy Award winning director Ron Howard. The movie takes the viewer into the golden age of F1, and the legendary rivals’ lives on and off the race track as they pursue the 1976 World Championship at Fuji, Japan.

Howard, who directed films such as Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, said “The James Hunt and Niki Lauda rivalry is one of the greatest in sports. Their story is so remarkable that you can only do it if it were true because people wouldn’t quite believe it.”

The director explained that it took three years to make RUSH. “Peter Morgan had written the screenplay before I signed on to direct the movie. What attracted me to the story was its surprising twists, emotion and the cinematic possibilities of 1970’s racing by mixing in staged footage with archival shots of Hunt and Lauda’s races.”

“One of the fascinating aspects of RUSH is the story of Hunt and Lauda’s fearlessness. The story tells of friendship, fear, overcoming fear and the two rivals who pushed each other beyond their limits,” Brühl said.

Meanwhile, “RUSH” writer Peter Morgan explained that “Niki Lauda approached racing rationally and as professionally as possible, whereas James Hunt was a flamboyant ladies’ man.” Howard also added that “Hunt lives the rock and roll life, but he had the talent to put himself in the car and go like hell.”

According to Howard, historic cars were used during the filming, including Hunt’s and Lauda’s Formula 1 cars. Replicas were also made specifically for the film. To top it off, both Hemsworth and Brühl learned how to drive real F1 cars.

“This is a movie I wanted to see and a world I wanted to occupy and share with audiences, not only because of the non-track drama and the life-death drama, but [also] because Hunt and Lauda’s nature is just really entertaining. They’re fascinating, funny, serious and formidable,” Howard noted. “They were willing to risk their lives to detain the elite status, but they paid a price for it which defined themselves.”

Starring alongside Chris Hemsworth and David Brühl are Olivia Wilde, Natalie Dormer, Alexandra Maria Lara, Pierfrancesco Favino, Christian McKay and Sean Edwards.

RUSH is distributed by Captive Cinema and will be in theaters on September 18, 2013.