Summary

• Brad Pitt's Formula One movie has a budget of over $300 million, making it one of the most expensive ever.
• Production delays due to the SAG-AFTRA strike and real actors in race cars have caused costs to soar.
• The film faces challenges due to its high budget, with no release date or distributor confirmed yet.

Brad Pitt's Formula One racing movie will reportedly be one of the most expensive ever made. First announced in 2021, the untitled film is from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and co-writer Ehren Kruger, and follows a fictional Formula One driver who comes out of retirement to mentor and eventually team up with a younger driver on the Apex Grand Prix team. Other than Pitt, the cast also includes Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Lewis Hamilton, Javier Bardem, and Sarah Niles.

According to Puck's Matthew Belloni, the budget for Brad Pitt's Formula One movie has ballooned to over $300 million. If accurate, this would make it one of the most expensive movies ever made and, as a result, is facing numerous obstacles to being released. While being produced for Apple, the film still doesn’t have a theatrical distributor or release date attached.

Why Brad Pitt's Formula One Movie Is So Expensive

The SAG-AFTRA Strike Isn't The Only Reason

There are a few different reasons why Pitt's upcoming Formula One movie has reportedly become one of the most expensive ever made. It started production in July 2023, just days before the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike started, which significantly delayed production. Similar to productions that were delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Fast X ($379M budget) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ($326M budget), these delays can cause costs to rise drastically.

Another reason why the Formula One film is so expensive is because, similar to Top Gun: Maverick, the movie put real actors in real race cars. This includes Pitt, who drove a modified Formula Two car with an added Formula One aerodynamic package during the British Prix weekend, though not in an official Formula One race. Putting real actors in real race cars requires an extensive amount of training and enhanced safety protocols, which are necessary, but naturally increase costs.

In turn, the Formula One film's budget is reportedly $300 million or more. If accurate, this would place it just outside the Top 10 of most expensive films ever made, tied for eleventh all-time with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Justice League, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Unlike these other films, Formula One is not part of a major film franchise, making it a harder sell at the box office.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is officially the most expensive movie ever made at $447 million, though the nature of Hollywood accounting means that movie budgets are often obfuscated.

What Does Formula One Need To Make In Order To Be Profitable?

A typical break even point on a film equals to 2x to 2.5x a film’s budget, with a box office take-home on the higher end (2.5x to 3x budget) needed to make money. With a $300 million budget, the Formula One film will have a tough road ahead to becoming profitable. The film will need to make at least $600 million, but more likely $750-900 million, just to break even and come close to anything resembling a profit.

Grossing $1 billion is extremely rare in the film industry, and only 54 films have ever made this achievement. Even more notable is the fact that only 71 films have ever grossed over $900 million worldwide. Based on these current numbers, Pitt's movie would not only have to succeed at the box office to break even, it would have to be in the top 75 highest-grossing films of all time in order to turn a significant profit.

Is It Possible for Formula One To Be a Financial Success?

That Might Depend On How "Success" Is Defined

A $300 million budget puts a lot of faith in Pitt. By far the biggest-name actor in the cast, the production is likely counting on his stardom being a huge pull for the film. As mentioned, the untitled Formula One movie is not part of a major franchise, so it does not benefit from existing hype in the way movies like Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Last Jedi would have. As a result, it is Pitt — and the allure of race cars and action — that will have to drive its success.

Though Pitt is an A-list actor, box office history would suggest that he alone is not enough to bring a movie to the level of success that this budget would require. Pitt’s highest-grossing movie was the 2013 zombie film World War Z. Ranking 218th all time, World War Z brought in $540.4 million at the worldwide box office. Though a decent return on its $190 million budget, even World War Z’s profit would be considered a loss for this Formula One movie. It would have to be the highest-grossing film in Pitt's career in order to succeed.

Theatrically, one saving grace for the Formula One movie could be its director. Kosinski is also the director of Top Gun: Maverick, which similarly used practical stunts — though with planes instead of race cars — as a major draw. Though it benefitted from being a long-awaited sequel, Maverick ended up taking home over $1.4 billion worldwide to become the 12th highest-grossing film of all time. Perhaps Kosinski can manage to harness some of his good fortune with Top Gun: Maverick in order to save Formula One from financial disaster.

But, he might not even need to. In the same Puck report, which explores Apple's relationship with theatrical distribution, Belloni writes that, because the movies are also meant for Apple TV+, the streamer doesn't use the traditional barometer for a theatrical win. So far, their strategy has reportedly been for the box office grosses to cover the cost of distribution and advertising, which would mean no cost was added on top of what a streaming-only release would have cost. A ballooning budget like this could change that thinking, but Pitt's Formula One movie would certainly benefit from those expectations.

Source: Puck