First Look: ‘Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans’: “He was not Hercules—he was Icarus.” (TRAILER)

Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna’s “Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans,” which premiered at Cannes Classics and went on to San Sebastian, Deauville and will screen at the upcoming BFI London Film Festival, starts following the king of cool in 1970 when he was fresh off hits “The Thomas Crown Affair” and “Bullitt.” McQueen wanted to make on a film about France’s 24-hour Formula One race Le Mans. During the six months he worked on the film, his director John Sturges quit, his marriage disintegrated, his Solar Productions neared bankruptcy and he was rumored to be on Charles Manson’s kill list.

Virtually dialogue-free and cinema verite, “Le Mans” ultimately went to director Lee H. Katzin and flopped at the 1971 box office. Chad McQueen helped to produce the doc about his father’s experience, which includes plenty of interviews as well as newly discovered archival footage and McQueen’s private audio recordings.

FilmRise is releasing the film in theaters in New York and LA on Friday, November 13th; it will hit digital, VOD, Blu-ray and DVD on December 1st.

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