Apple Confirms F1 Movie With Brad Pitt, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Director
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is also involved in the project.
Despite Hollywood's best efforts, Formula 1 never managed to find a foothold in the U.S. through the silver screen. Netflix, however, won that battle with its docuseries F1: Drive to Survive. Now that F1's popularity has exploded Hollywood is primed to capitalize on the racing series' newfound fame, which it'll reportedly do with the help of Brad Pitt under Apple Studios. The movie doesn't sound like it's going to be a hokey embarrassment, either, as it's rumored to involve both seven-time F1 champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and much of the staff that made Top Gun: Maverick.
The as-of-yet untitled movie project has, according to Deadline Hollywood, been acquired by Apple Studios, which reportedly won out against several other major studios and streaming services—Amazon, MGM, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Universal. It'll reportedly star Brad Pitt, not as the protagonist of a tale from F1's history like 2013's Rush, but as a veteran F1 driver lured out of retirement to mentor a rookie teammate. In that regard, the plot sounds like it could vaguely resemble Michael Schumacher's return to F1 to race, along a young Nico Rosberg.
Whatever the premise, the story looks set to be a winner, as the script was reportedly written by Ehren Kruger, one of the writers of Top Gun: Maverick. He's far from the only Maverick alumni, as director Joseph Kosinski is coming over too, as are producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman, while Sir Lewis Hamilton himself is also said to have an influence. Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment will also be involved.
The film is reported to have a below-the-line budget of $130 to $140 million, or more than triple the total budget of 2013's Rush, and over $30 million more than what Ford v Ferrari cost. There's clearly no shortage of talent or budget to make this a film worthy of F1, but execution always matters more than the premise. Besides, if the last time Pitt and Bruckheimer got involved in F1 is anything to go by, this movie could yet be a disaster for the ages.
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