HBO is taking a somber look at one of the most tragic figures in racing. The company has released the first trailer for “The Lionheart,” which TheWrap can exclusively reveal in the video above.
The film will focus on two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon, who won the prestigious race in both 2005 and 2011. That latter year would be his last. At the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Weldon collided with a fence post on the 11th lap. The impact killed him, making him the first driver to die in an IndyCar since Paul Dana five years earlier. Wheldon was only 33 years old at the time of his death. The documentary will debut on HBO and will be available to stream on Max on March 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
“A storm is coming,” Wheldon repeatedly says in archival footage featured in the trailer. The jovial way he delivers the clearly-scripted line infuses the preview with a sense of foreboding.
Later in the video, the accident that would take Wheldon’s life is described as a plane crash.
“With a race, there’s so many things that are not in your control. You try to control as much as you can,” Wheldon says.
“Racing has taken from me the most important thing in my life,” his widow Susie Wheldon says in the trailer. “But it’s also given me so much.” The video then cuts to shots of her two young sons racing.
“The Lionheart” blends archival footage with vérité storytelling to tell the story of two generations of racers: Dan Wheldon and his sons, Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon. The film will focus heavily on Susie Wheldon as she grapples with allowing her children to participate in this high-risk sport that took their father’s life but may bring them closer to him. Along the way, she will also grapple with questions about “whether her family’s lineage is a blessing or a burden,” according to a press release for the documentary.
In addition to Susie Wheldon and her two children, Wheldon’s father Clive Wheldon will appear in the documentary as will race car drivers and Wheldon’s former teammates Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Bryan Herta and Scott Dixon; racing team owners Michael Andretti and Chip Ganassi; and JC Karting team owner Leo Colman.
“The Lionheart” comes from TIME Studios Production and Stardust Frames Production in association with Words + Pictures and XTR. The documentary is directed and produced by Laura Brownson. Chapman Way, Maclain Way and Carolyn Craddock also produce with Ian Orefice, Loren Hammonds, Rebecca Teitel, Connor Schell, Aaron Cohen, Kristen Lappas, Bryn Mooser, Justin Lacob and Andy Hsieh serving as executive producers. Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Bentley Weiner executive produce for HBO.
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