After science fiction with SeveranceBen Stiller would like to make a film about the Tour de France and in particular a legendary rivalry.
Strangely, despite its international popularity (more than 150 million viewers worldwide in 2024), the Tour de France has never really attracted Hollywood. Except The Program by Stephen Frears in 2015, which focused on the Lance Armstrong doping affair with a large cast (Ben Foster, Dustin Hoffman, Jesse Plemons, Guillaume Canet, Denis Ménochet…), Cycling and this legendary race have often been simple backdrops (Ghislain Lambert's bike, The Great Loop, The Team Member or the policeman Five Red Tulips).
Perhaps, like Formula 1, the Tour de France will enjoy a new form of popularity thanks to the Netflix documentary series: At the heart of the peloton. Given the scores on the platform (only 2 million so-called complete views in two weeks for season 2 of the series Tour de France, against more than 6 million for F1 : Drive to Survive season 6), it is unlikely that it will cause real excitement on the ground. In any case, Ben Stiller really wants to put cycling back on the big screen.
french tour
From Zoolander 2 In 2016, director Ben Stiller left the big screen to devote himself fully to directing two series. In 2018, he impressed Hollywood with the excellent Escape at Dannemora (earning him the prestigious DGA Awards for a mini-series) and at the start of 2022, he confirmed with the first season of Severance on Apple TV+ (of which he directed six out of nine episodes). After three years of waiting, strikes and disagreements, season 2 is finally about to arrive, but inevitably, it prevented Ben Stiller from devoting himself to other projects.
This is what he notably told Colliderrevealing the different film ideas he has in mind. Among them, a documentary on his parents and also a film on the Tour de France:
” Mon [des projets que je souhaite réaliser]which I have been feeding for some time, is Slaying the Badger , which is about the 1986 Tour de France and Greg LeMond , the first American to win the Tour de France. It's a story that I really want to tell, and which could be next. »
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Cycling fans know the name well Greg LeMond as he was the first American to win the Tour de France in 1986. He won this edition under the nose of the Frenchman Bernard Hinault, just like in 1989 when he was crowned by just eight seconds ahead of Laurent Fignon during the final time trial. In total, with his victory in 1990, he won the race three times and is considered the only American on the list since the withdrawal of Armstrong's seven titles (between 1999 and 2005) and the downgrading of Floyd Landis (2006). for doping.
The 1986 Tour de France was marked by the tough battle between Bernard Hinault (who had five titles to his name and for whom it was his last participation) and Greg LeMond, even though they were teammates. Their duel was recounted by the American runner in the biographical documentary entitled Slaying the Badger (available on Disney+ in France), or “Kill the Badger” in French, Hinault being nicknamed “the Badger” in the peloton. Ben Stiller also explained that the documentary would be his source of inspiration.
This is not the first time that the actor-director has mentioned this project since he had discussed it with cyclists Geraint Thomas (winner of the Tour in 2018) and Luke Rowe in the podcast Watts Occuring last July. He notably shared his passion for this sportthe French race and his long afternoons where he remained glued to his TV following the exploits of this or that runner.
For the moment, no other information has been revealed, and Ben Stiller is not yet sure whether he will embark on this project. He will probably have to wait for receipt of season 2 of Severance from January 17, 2025 to find out if a season 3 has been ordered and will, once again, take up all of his time.
