The award-winning filmmaker behind such giant-screen gems as “The Ultimate Wave” and “Super Speedway” is developing an IMAX 3D movie focused on the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the evolution of motorsports.

The Stephen Low Co. announced the project Tuesday. Low will direct, and his Montreal-based company will produce and distribute the film in association with Ralph Hansen of Pegasus Marketing Group.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials will consult on the movie, a documentary “celebrating the auto racing experience and its historical and enduring connection” to Indianapolis, the company said in a prepared release.

Film crews will have access to the Speedway facility for taping, and IMS staff also will help with an education outreach program to be developed in connection with the movie.

The independent film is expected to be released in October 2011—during the race’s months-long centennial celebration. Low plans to distribute the movie to IMAX theaters worldwide.
 
“The film will create a memorable and lasting tribute to ‘The Racing Capital of the World’ and its many contributions to society,” IMS CEO Jeff Belskus said in a statement.

Funding is coming from the producers and major corporate sponsorships, the company said.

Low’s is not the only film in the works. As IBJ reported last year, My First Bike Productions’ Justin Escue is working on a movie about the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Angelo Pizzo, creator of the movies “Hoosiers” and “Rudy,” wrote the screenplay, and the company had $40 million in funding lined up. That film, tentatively titled "500," was expected to premiere in May 2011.