Brad Pitt has signed up to take the wheel in a Formula One racing movie poised for an Apple release.

This high-profile package caught the attention of studios and streamers when it was first announced in early December. Disney, Netflix, Sony, Universal, Amazon, Paramount, and MGM were in the race – and it’s Apple Studios that first received the checkered flag.

The still-untitled project will have Pitt playing a racer who comes out of retirement in order to mentor an up-and-coming young driver. Become this driver’s teammate, he finds one last chance at glory on the racetrack. Still no word on who will be playing this younger driver. The film will also have the involvement of British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, although no further details on his input have been released.

Set to direct isJoseph Kosinski, whose list of credits include TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, Only the Brave, and delayed Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Writing the screenplay is Ehren Kruger, co-writer of Top: Gun: Maverick, Tim Burton’s Dumbo, and Transformers films Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, and Age of Extinction.

It’s shaping up to be a big one. With Oscar-winner Pitt starring and Konsinski at the helm, Apple is reportedly happy to fork it out for a budget in the range of $US130 million to $US140 million – and that’s not counting above-the-line compensation.

This is the second big Pitt project that Apple has won. Last October, Apple Studios came out on top in a bidding war for a George Clooney and Brad Pitt thriller to be directed by Spider-Man: No Way Home helmer Jon Watts.

Stay tuned as this one comes together.

Source: Deadline

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