Drama "F1" Formula One Racing Film (Brad Pitt & Joseph Kosinski)

[Kane52630]

Brad Pitt, Joseph Kosinski and Apple Team for Formula 1 Racing Film – The Hollywood Reporter

In a potentially game-changing deal that could impact how streamers and theatrical distributors coexist, Apple has closed a pact to acquire an untitled Formula One racing movie that has Top Gun: Maverick filmmaker Joseph Kosinski directing and Brad Pitt attached to star, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The deal, almost five months in the making, reunites Kosinski with many from his Maverick team, including writer Ehren Kruger and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, as Maverick hopes to gross $1 billion or more in its theatrical run. All are back in the same capacity for the racing project and are being joined by Sir Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 world champion, who will produce along with Pitt’s Plan B banner.

The key to the deal is a theatrical distribution component. But instead of a token release in a small number of theaters or a day-and-date opening, the movie would have an exclusive — and global — run of at least 30 days (one source says it could even go as high as 60 days) before heading to the Apple TV+ platform. A distribution partner would need to come on board, and it’s unclear when one would be approached. That could happen before production, potentially enticed by a sizzle reel, or perhaps after production has wrapped.

Apple has released movies in theaters before, with animated film Wolfwalkers enjoying a 30-day window and The Tragedy of Macbeth getting 21 days. However, those were small-scale awards play releases, not tentpole-style extravaganzas.

In another first, insiders say the theatrical component is structured in a way that would see Apple and the filmmakers split the take from the big-screen release 50-50. The unique deal, in essence, pays the creative team three ways: their upfront fees, their hefty buyout fees and the theatrical backend. Sources say Kosinski, who will also produce, and Bruckheimer will see paydays well into the eight figures, with Pitt and his company hitting $40 million to $50 million. Apple had no comment.

 

[samsnee]

At least we know the sound mixing should be good

 

[DeadlyWest]

Um...

cool?

I'm assuming Pitt's gonna be a team manager or something, considering most drivers retire like twenty years younger than he currently is. But eh, alright

 

[DarkKnight88]

Kosinski‘s now doing his Days of Thunder.

And I’ve got your villain!

 

[DarkKnight88]

Top Gun Director Kosinski Bringing Pitt Car Movie ‘In-Camera Thrills’ – Deadline

“It’s almost funny to me to see people who are so enamored with real photography. Younger people almost haven’t seen a lot of it. They’re so used to CGI [computer-generated images] being a tool of big movies that when you shoot something for real, it feels innovative. That’s exactly the approach for Formula One … to shoot at the real races and real cars and capture it. It’s going to be a huge challenge but an exciting one for me.”

The film will see Pitt star as a driver who comes out of retirement to mentor a promising rookie. Ehren Kruger is writing the script, while Top Gun‘s Jerry Bruckheimer is producing alongside Plan B.

Apple won a battle for the rights to Formula One and has committed to a cinema release before putting it on its streaming service.

 

[Pennywise]

‘Snowfall’ Star Damson Idris Joins Brad Pitt In F1 Racing Movie At Apple – Deadline

 

[Stringer]

Sweet, could rocket Damson into the A list and get the attention he deserves.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Asr]

Kosinski‘s now doing his Days of Thunder.

And I’ve got your villain!

I saw that movie for the first time not too long ago and thought "dang it was great to see Cruise and Pitt in the same movie" but it's too bad that I don't think that would happen nowadays. Actually it seems like a lot of A-list actors who've been around since at least the 90s don't like sharing the screen in the same movie with each other now.

It's also incidentally funny that neither of them have visibly aged all that much in....30 years? Truly vampires.

 

[Pennywise]

‘Banshees of Inisherin’ Star Kerry Condon Joins Brad Pitt in F! Movie – Deadline

 

[Pennywise]

Brad Pitt's Formula One Film Adds 'The Crown' Star Tobias Menzies - Variety

 

[Hunter Rider]

After what he did with the flying sequences in Top Gun: Maverick I'm really interested to see what Kosinski delivers with the racing sequences in this.

 

[:eek:]

Apex
Brad Pitt and “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski’s previously untitled Formula One film at Apple TV finally has a name – “Apex”. Filming is set to take place on-site for the first time at the British Grand Prix with Pitt playing an aged, retired racer named Sonny Hayes who helps a novice driver (Damson Idris). [Source: ESPN]

 

[DarkKnight88]

Please end with an after credits stinger of Tom Cruise’s Cole Trickle greeting Brad Pitt, for a race between Formula One and NASCAR. That’s your crossover.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Sawyer]

 

[DeadlyWest]

(Brad was in fact driving an F2 car which is 10-15 seconds slower than an actual F1 car)

 

[The Chris]

Oh snap he’s doing a racing movie after Top Gun?! I support Kosinski going the Tony Scott route with his career . God we can use another one of him.

 

[FunkMiller]

(Brad was in fact driving an F2 car which is 10-15 seconds slower than an actual F1 car)

And he wouldn't have been driving at anywhere near the car's full capacity anyway.

The idea that they are making a movie about Formula One with a sixty year old driver, tells me they aren't really making a movie about Formula One.

 

[DeadlyWest]

And he wouldn't have been driving at anywhere near the car's full capacity anyway.

The idea that they are making a movie about Formula One with a sixty year old driver, tells me they aren't really making a movie about Formula One.

Yeah, the plot synopsis definitely sounds pretty silly

I'm not /that/ weirded out by the age, it kinda depends on how old the character is meant to be seeing as Brad still looks 40. And it ain't like Kimi or Schumacher retired because they were physically too old to take doing it. Hell, Alonso's still doing it.

But the idea of a driver crashing out in basically the 90s and coming back...now for some reason, despite there being more in common between the common car and motorcycle than a 90s F1 car to a modern day one, is downright goofy

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Pennywise]

 

[blue scholar]

That is one wild budget

 

[Kane52630]

I bet a lot of is because of Brad Pitt's price tag but also Joseph Kosinski getting that budget means sh** is gonna look incredible.

 

[Pittman4Two]

I'm sure a good portion of that budget is going to F1 and its partners as well.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe Sly Stallone had wanted Driven to be in the F1 world instead of champ cars back in the day, however F1 wanted a lot of dough for the access Stallone wanted.