Having welded his deadly hammer in the role of Norse god Thor in the recent Marvel blockbusters, Chris Hemsworth’s profile has risen strongly as he looks set to become the biggest Oceanian actor to make it in Hollywood since Russell Crowe.

Ironically like Crowe, Hemsworth is now working with Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man) as he takes on a more dramatic role as British Formula One racer James Hunt in the upcoming sports drama Rush which has just released its first trailer.

The film focuses on the real-life rivalry between Hunt and his Austrian foe Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl from Inglorious Basterds) as the pair went head-to-head in their pursuit of Formula One dominance. The rivalry reached fever pitch in 1976 when Lauda nearly died after crashing his Ferrari in the German Grand Prix but was amazingly able to return to the racing track a few weeks later to continue his competitive streak against Hunt.

The lovely Olivia Wilde (Tron Legacy, Cowboys and Aliens) co-stars as model Suzy Miller who went on to marry Hunt despite his womanising ways with Natalie Dormer (Captain America: The First Avenger, Game of Thrones), Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles) and Alexandra Maria Lara (Control) also starring. The film is also penned by renowned screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon).

Though racing car films haven’t always turned out well on the big-screen, Howard will be looking to ensure that Rush becomes a major player later in the year in the same way that the Senna documentary did back in 2011.

The film will be racing to UK cinemas on September 13th.