Brad Pitt is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished stars with features in some of the biggest projects of the industry. He's a well-decorated actor with numerous accolades, including two Oscar Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, under his belt. Now, he's set to add an accomplished driver to his accolades as he will be taking the wheels of a real race car for his upcoming Formula One movie.
Joseph Kosinski, who will helm the film, and Jerry Bruckheimer, who will produce, revealed this at a panel appearance at the F1 Acceleration Summit in Miami a few days ago.
According to Will Buxton, the panel’s moderator, Kosinski and Bruckheimer will create an 11th team for the races that will film Pitt "on track and on event from Silverstone to the end of the year." Silverstone is the venue of the British Grand Prix with the racing event set to start on July 9 this year.
What an honour to host the final panel of the day at #F1Accelerate with movie royalty Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski. Their F1 movie sounds incredible. They’re creating an 11th team and filming on track and on event from Silverstone to the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/fPAn2rJVoS
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) May 4, 2023
Kosinski directed the 2022 action drama film Top Gun: Maverick, which starred Tom Cruise and saw the use of advanced moviemaking technology to capture footage from inside fighter planes. Buxton claimed that Kosinski and his team will borrow from their Maverick playbook and use similar technology to capture footage from the cockpit of F1 racing cars. In his words, "They’ve [Kosinski and his team] spent 18 months taking what they learnt on Top Gun Maverick to develop the smallest moveable 6k camera ever designed to take the viewer into the cockpit."
Buxton assured readers that Kosinski and Bruckheimer are determined to "make the most accurate, most impressive race movie anyone has ever seen" with actors already practicing for their roles both on track and in simulations, Mercedes testing a real race car designed for the film, and racing icon Lewis Hamilton advising on storyline and script.
The Formula One racing film will feature Pitt as a racer who exits retirement for one last race. Pitt’s character will mentor a younger driver, played by British actor Damson Idris, with whom he will share the cockpit in his quest for glory.
Apart from Pitt and Idris, the still-untitled Formula One movie will star the Irish actress and Oscar Awards nominee, Kerry Condon, as the technical director of Pitt’s team tasked with the design and development of a sophisticated race car, according to a recent report by The Hollywood Reporter.
Ehren Kruger, who was one of the writers on Top Gun: Maverick, will pen the film, while Kosinski will produce alongside Chad Oman, Lewis Hamilton, Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, and legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Penni Thow, CEO and founder of talent investment firm Copper, will executive produce.
By the way, the Formula One movie is Pitt’s second project with Apple. The Hollywood icon is also working with the tech behemoth on another project that is confirmed to star himself and George Clooney as two fixers who, although prefer to work independently, are hired for the same job. The film, still untitled, will be helmed by Spider-Man director Jon Watts.
