In an agreement that could change the game that could affect the coexistence of streamers and theatrical distributors, Apple has closed a deal to acquire an untitled Formula 1 racing movie that has Top Gun: Maverick filmmaker Joseph Kosinski directing and Brad Pitt linked to the star, The Hollywood Reporter ha après.
The agreement, which has been in progress for almost five months, brings Kosinski together with many of his own Maverick team, including writer Ehren Kruger and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, such as Maverick he hopes to raise $ 1 billion or more in his theatrical career. They have all returned to the same capacity for the racing project and are joined by Sir Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 world champion, who will produce alongside the Pitt Plan B flag.
The key to the agreement is a theatrical distribution component. But instead of a symbolic release in a small number of theaters or a release day and date, the film would have an exclusive and overall duration of at least 30 days (a source says it could even reach 60 days) . ) before going to the Apple TV + platform. A distribution partner should go on board, and it’s unclear when he would approach one. This could happen before production, potentially seduced by a coil of screams, or perhaps after production has wrapped up.
Apple has already released movies in theaters before, with the animated film Wolfwalkers enjoying a 30-day window and The Tragedy of Macbeth in 21 days. However, these were small-scale awards theater premieres, not tent-style extravagances.
In another first, experts say the theatrical component is structured in such a way that Apple and the filmmakers would split the premiere take on the big screen 50-50. The only offer, in essence, pays the creative team in three ways: their initial fees, their high purchase rates, and their theatrical backend. Sources say Kosinski, who will also produce, and Bruckheimer will see paydays as well as eight figures, with Pitt and his company reaching between $ 40 million and $ 50 million. Apple did not comment.
Prior to this deal, the creatives and their representatives had a choice of Sophie to make: buy a purchase or promote a movie release? But CAA, which represents Pitt, Kosinski and Bruckheimer, asked for another answer: why not both?
Part of the bet here is the Pitt and F1 races. Although he doesn’t hold the Maverick Tom Cruise box office record, Pitt is such a big name worldwide. And F1 is a growing and sexy sport that embodies a certain kind of enviable lifestyle. The other bet is the theatrical experience that will take the audience to a place where most have never been before: inside a car. Just as Maverick and Kosinski are generating real-world praise for putting the audience in the cockpit of an F-14, the goal is to put the viewer behind the wheel of what is basically a rocket on a runway. .
The idea for the project originated with Kosinski, who is proving to be a hotbed of ideas after cutting the Top Gun swamp for years with a concept light bulb that committed Cruise to a sequel. The filmmaker had briefly met Hamilton through Cruise during the making of Maverick, so when he decided to take a step forward, CAA and his management company Grandview organized a meeting at the San Vincente Bungalows with Bruckheimer. Hamilton and his manager. Penni Thow, where things started to crystallize. There was a search for a writer, with the initial choice of writer Maverick Kruger, before a fateful meeting just before Thanksgiving between Kosinski and Pitt, where Kosinski convinced the actor to join the racing crew of the experienced pilot of history coming out of retirement in order to mentor a promising newcomer.
In December, the project was purchased by CAA in the studios and Steam in a tight 30-minute presentation that sparked instant bids. In the end, it came to Apple, Netflix, Amazon and MGM, then directed by Michael De Luca. (The latter executive now holds a leading film job at Warner Bros. theatrical that, when fulfilled, could be demonstrated. to be a model for future offerings that recognize that both theater and streaming are here to stay all the time.
Jerry Bruckheimer and Lewis Hamilton Courtesy of Greg Williams; Courtesy of Ike Edeani