It’s a good time to be director Joseph Kosinski right now. First, his latest movie, Top Gun: Maverick, is finally playing in theaters and hitting all sorts of box office milestones. Then later this month, his next movie, the Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller-starring Spiderhead, will drop on Netflix. As if those two things weren’t big enough, now word’s come in that Kosinski’s forthcoming movie with Brad Pitt has found a streaming home.
Rather than join Spiderhead on Netflix, this yet-to-be-titled movie about Formula One racing has been set up at Apple. According to Deadline, Apple Studios entered exclusive negotiations to obtain the project back in January, and now a deal has been reached. This is the second Apple-related project that Pitt is attached to, as he’s also set to reunite with Ocean’s Eleven costar George Clooney for a movie being directed by Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Jon Watts about two lone wolf “fixers” who are assigned to the same job.
Joseph Kosinski’s Formula One racing movie will star as a driver who comes out of retirement to complete alongside a rookie against the titans of his sport. In addition to directing off a script penned by Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger, Kosinski will produce alongside folks like Jerry Bruckheimer (who also worked on Maverick) and seven-time Formula One champion Sir Lewis Hamilton. It’s unclear exactly how much money Apple shelled out to acquire this project, although back in January, it was reported that the package was in the $130 million-$140 million range, before above-the-line compensation. Paramount, MGM, Sony, Universal, Netflix and Amazon were the other contenders looking to acquire the Formula One racing movie before Apple came out ahead.
Interestingly enough, this won’t be the first time that Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt have collaborated on a racing movie together. The duo previously tried to get Go Like Hell, which was reportedly described as “The Right Stuff on the racetrack,” and would have starred Pitt as real-life figure Carroll Shelby. While that project never shifted into drive, Shelby would later be played by Matt Damon in 2019’s Ford v Ferrari, which also starred Christian Bale as Ken Miles.
The news of Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt’s Formula One racing movie going to Apple arrives a few months after Pitt made a minor appearance in the Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum-led comedy The Lost City (which can now be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription). Starting in August, Pitt can be seen leading the action flick Bullet Train, with his co-stars including Brian Tyree Henry, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrew Koji and Bad Bunny. He’ll also play silent film star John Gilbert in Damian Chazelle’s Babylon, which comes out Christmas Day.
CinemaBlend will pass along more major new concerning Apple’s latest film acquisition, including its official title and who will join Brad Pitt in the cast. For now though, there are various other Apple TV movies available to watch, and the platform’s upcoming original content includes Cha Cha Real Smooth, Luck and Killers of the Flower Moon.
