Apple has acquired the rights to a Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt and co-produced by Lewis Hamilton.
Apple has set aside a $140 million budget to develop a Formula 1 film that will star Brad Pitt and include Lewis Hamilton as one of the producers, as well as several well-known film-making names.
The sport has exploded in popularity in recent years, thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive series and Liberty Media’s aggressive social and digital marketing. Indeed, the interest in Formula 1 is at an all-time high, and as a result, we’re witnessing a plethora of productions centred on the sport.
In Apple’s as-yet-untitled Formula One film, Brad Pitt will play an experienced driver who comes out of retirement to join a rookie team mate and take on the series’ top opponents. Ehren Kruger is writing the screenplay as Joseph Kosinski takes the director role, with the two previously working together in the same role in the film Top Gun: Maverick, which is presently in theatres.
Hamilton, Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Chad Oman will produce the film. However, It’s unclear whether the film will feature seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton, who has already appeared in films such as Cars 2, Cars 3, and Zoolander 2, as well as the hit video game Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, in cameo parts and voice acting roles.
Hamilton was also an executive producer for The Game Changers, a 2018 documentary film about a UFC competitor who switched to vegan protein. His first full producing credit will be on the upcoming Apple Original Films initiative.
On the other hand, Pitt has shown a keen interest in motorsport in the past, notably waving the starting flag at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. He had previously collaborated with Kosinski on a biography about Le Mans racer and engineer Caroll Shelby, which later became the Matt Damon-starring Ford against Ferrari which featured 1966 Le Mans.
