Apple has reportedly closed a deal to acquire an untitled Formula One racing movie which has Brad Pitt attached to star and “Top Gun: Maverick” filmmaker Joseph Kosinski to direct.
Almost five months in the making, the deal sees some of the ‘Maverick’ behind-the-scenes team returning including writer Ehren Kruger and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman with all back in the same capacity.
In addition, seven-time F1 world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton is onboard and will produce along with Pitt’s Plan B label. The goal of the filmmakers is to put the viewer behind the wheel in a way not really seen before in what will be the story of a seasoned driver who comes out of retirement to mentor a promising rookie.
A big part of the deal though is a theatrical distribution element with the project set to score a global, exclusive theatrical run of at least 30 days (possibly up to 60 days) before heading to the Apple TV+ platform.
That means a distribution partner will need to come on board, with none attached as yet. While “Wolfwalkers” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” both scored theatrical windows of several weeks, those were smaller awards releases – not a major action tentpole.
Additionally the deal is structured in a way that will see Apple and the filmmakers split the take from the theatrical release 50-50 – giving the likes of Kosinski and Bruckheimer upfront fees, buyout fees and theatrical backend.
Source: THR
