Brad Pitt is teaming up with Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski for a Formula One movie, and the star will be driving a modified Formula car.
Brad Pitt will get behind the wheel of a real race car for his upcoming Formula One movie from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. After recently appearing in the likes of The Lost City, Bullet Train, and Babylon, Pitt’s next project sees him take on the role of a retired F1 driver who, according to the film’s official synopsis, “comes out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie driver against the titans of the sport.” The upcoming Formula One movie does not currently have a title or a release date.
Now, during an F1 Accelerate Summit panel about the upcoming Pitt racing movie, as shared by host Will Buxton on Twitter, more details about the movie’s production have started to emerge.
What an honour to host the final panel of the day at #F1Accelerate with movie royalty Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski. Their F1 movie sounds incredible. They’re creating an 11th team and filming on track and on event from Silverstone to the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/fPAn2rJVoS
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) May 4, 2023
What an honour to host the final panel of the day at #F1Accelerate with movie royalty Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski. Their F1 movie sounds incredible. They’re creating an 11th team and filming on track and on event from Silverstone to the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/fPAn2rJVoS — Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) May 4, 2023
Buxton reveals that Pitt will be driving a modified Formula car on real tracks, starting with Silverstone on July 9. Mercedes is currently working on the actor’s car and renowned F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is serving as a producer to ensure the film is “the most accurate racing film ever made.” Variety has since confirmed that Pitt won’t actually be racing against other drivers, though, and his car will likely be a “modified version of a junior F2 or F3 car.”
Brad Pitt’s New F1 Movie Could Be Incredible
One of the major reasons Top Gun: Maverick was such a hit last year was because it featured real actors in real fighter jets. Although Tom Cruise and his costars didn’t actually pilot these aircraft, the aerial action is exhilarating because it feels real, and much of it was filmed practically. Kosinski is evidently taking lessons learned from shooting Top Gun: Maverick and applying these same principles to his F1 movie.
As Buxton explains, the production has developed the “smallest moveable 6k camera ever designed to take the viewer into the cockpit.” This means that audiences will experience the same visceral feeling that Top Gun: Maverick’s cockpit shots provided, but Pitt will actually be driving the vehicle. Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are attempting, per Buxton, to make the “most impressive race movie anyone has ever seen.”
With Pitt’s star power, Kosinski’s direction, and Lewis Hamilton serving as a close advisor and producer, the actor’s Formula One project is already shaping up to be a major win for Apple Studios. Thankfully, the upcoming movie is also slated to feature a theatrical release before landing on Apple TV Plus. With Pitt not slated to get behind the wheel until July, it will likely be a while before any footage of the actor’s driving is released.