Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 movie, which has utilised grand prix weekends to produce footage, is on course to be one of the most expensive movies ever made.
The movie centres around a driver, played by Pitt, who comes out of retirement to take up a seat at the Apex Formula 1 team alongside a competitor he previously mentored.
According to Puck, the budget for the movie has tipped well over $300 million which ranks it among the biggest productions in the history of film.
While it does not come close to breaching the budget for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, believed to be the most expensive movie of all time, the reported budget would place it just outside the top 10.
However, the movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) is facing challenges as it has yet to attach a theatrical distributor and a release date has not been announced.
Challenges
The movie, which is yet to receive a title, is being produced for Apple and began assembly in July 2023.
However, the production was impacted by the SAG-AFTRA strike that lasted for 118 days, resulting in a significant delay to the project and adding to the cost.
Another factor that has driven up the production bill is the use of real cars, with modified Formula 2 challengers adapted to resemble F1 machinery used at Silverstone last year.
The grand prix weekend formed a natural background for the movie with Pitt and co-star Damson Idris present on the pre-race grid for footage before lining up at rear of the field in their modified cars.
The cars also took to the track at the Hungaroring last year for additional material.
The fictional APX team also had their own pit garage set up to resemble those used by existing squads, while the safety protocols and driver training required to make the shots possible driving costs up.
With movies typically needing to make between 2x to 2.5x of its budget to break-even, this F1 production would likely need to take in $750-900 million just to avoid a loss.
Only 71 films have ever made more than $900m at the box office, with 54 films tipping over the $1 billion mark.