‘Ford v Ferrari’ Producer Peter Chernin on Projects Worth Fighting For: “You Have to Bet on Your Own Gut”

Ford v Ferrari producer Peter Chernin told The Hollywood Reporter‘s Producer Roundtable his film spent “about 15 years in development,” noting that at one point Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were attached. Matt Damon and Christian Bale ultimately were cast to star in the pic.

Chernin is known for such films as Hidden Figures, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Heat, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Spy, The Greatest Showman and such series as New Girl and Apple TV+’s new show See, to name a few.

“Ultimately, you have to bet on your own gut on these things,” Chernin told the roundtable regarding how to know what makes a great film or what projects are worth fighting for. “I’m not an alien, I’m a human. I’m emotional. I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to be moved by things, and take a sense of responsibility. I believe that this is a responsible telling of this story.”

He continued: “I always used to say that these jobs are wildly subjective with one exception: You know your own thoughts and feelings remarkably well. Your own gut is the one thing you know objectively, and you should listen to it and bet on it.”

The full Producer Roundtable is set to air Jan. 26 on SundanceTV. Chernin appears on the roundtable panel with Charlize Theron (Bombshell), Dan Lin (The Two Popes), David Heyman (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Emma Tillinger Koskoff (Joker, The Irishman) and Debra Martin Chase (Harriet). Follow all the Oscar-season roundtables at THR.com/Roundtables.

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