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The first official trailer for Villeneuve: Rise of a Legend has been released, five years after the biopic about Canada’s legendary Ferrari driver was first announced. The one-minute preview arrived alongside confirmation that the film is scheduled to reach cinemas in 2026, although no specific release date has been set.
Rémi Goulet plays the young Gilles Villeneuve, and the Quebec actor’s resemblance to the late racer is immediately striking. The film is expected to include subtitles for audiences who do not speak French.
The project arrives at a time when Ferrari’s enduring connection with Villeneuve remains central to his legacy. That link continues to shape the way his racing career is remembered, much as Ferrari’s modern competitive struggles remain under scrutiny in recent coverage of the team’s 2026 upgrade battle.
The film will not focus on Villeneuve’s celebrated Formula One career. Instead, it examines the experiences that came before his arrival in the championship, tracing the route from snowmobile racing to the single-seater categories that opened the door to Formula One in 1977.
Villeneuve’s early success in snowmobile racing helped provide the funds for his move into Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic. According to producer Christian Larouche, the film’s most surprising material lies in those origins rather than in the later chapters that are already familiar to many Canadian racing fans.
“Everybody always talks about the accident and Gilles’ death, but little is known about his origins, his youth,” Larouche said. “Yet this is the most surprising part.”
The trailer presents a racer determined to make a living from competition. Its translated dialogue includes Villeneuve declaring, “For the first time in my life, I know what I want. I want to race,” before describing the decision to sell his house and commit everything to the pursuit of a professional career.
The biopic was produced in collaboration with the Villeneuve estate, but its progress was slowed by funding difficulties and a winter with too little snow for planned snowmobile scenes in Valcourt and Joliette, Quebec. The production has reportedly cost $15.8 million, according to Journal de Montreal.
Now, with the trailer finally public, the film is positioned to tell the story of the determined young racer who became one of Canada’s most enduring motorsport figures—before the Ferrari years and the tragedy at Zolder.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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