By Dustin Rowles | Film | July 8, 2024 |
By Dustin Rowles | Film | July 8, 2024 |
Back in 1990, four years after Top Gun, Tom Cruise endeavored to make a blockbuster film set in the world of NASCAR. It was a middling performer for Cruise, earning $82 million at the domestic box office. Now, next year, three years after Top Gun: Maverick, the film’s director will endeavor to recoup reportedly as much as $300 million on a Formula One racing film, F1, starring Brad Pitt.
Granted, according to Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, that budget is wildly overinflated once rebates and sponsorships are accounted for. Still, it’s fair to assume that F1 — which comes out next June — is an expensive film. It’s a huge gamble considering that the highest-grossing film ever set in the world of professional car racing is the $148 million earned by Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
As popular as professional racing is, it never seems to translate to the box office, see also Chris Hemsworth’s Rush ($26 million) and last year’s Gran Turismo ($46 million). Notwithstanding the popularity of Netflix’s Drive to Survive during the pandemic, it’s a hell of a gamble to make one of these films with a budget that high and put it all on the shoulders of 60-year-old Brad Pitt, whose box office glory is at least a few years behind him and whose public persona has been shaky over the last few years.
Even though its release is a year away, Apple has already released the first teaser trailer. I’ve embedded it here, but Formula One is being a dick about where it can be seen, so you’ll need to click through to YouTube to watch.