Joseph Kosinski/Brad Pitt Formula One film to feature Maverick-style action

Brad Pitt in Ad Astra
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The eye-popping action sequences from Top Gun: Maverick are set to be recreated in the cockpit of Formula 1 cars next, it’s been revealed.

Apple’s collaboration with Top Gun: Maverick helmer, Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt is generating lots of interest at the moment. The continued success of the Top Gun sequel at the box office, not to mention the presence of producing legend Jerry Bruckheimer, racing icon Lewis Hamilton and the involvement of Formula 1 as well has resulted in a lot of interest in the project.

Indeed, Paramount, MGM, Sony, Universal, Netflix and Amazon were also said to be interested, but Apple was seemingly first to snag the project and has reportedly agreed to a wide cinematic release before it even hits its streaming platform.

The project is believed to cost around $140m with ‘Pitt playing a retired racing legend who mentors a younger driver and takes his final stab at glory on the track as the younger driver’s teammate.’

Kosinski has now revealed in an interview with The Wrap that the stunning action sequences in Top Gun: Maverick, which included putting the actors in the cockpits of actual fighter planes and capturing their performances as they soared through the skies, is the direction he’s aiming to take for this next project, currently going under the working title of Formula One.

Says Kosinski: “Seeing people react to an in-camera, authentically captured film like Top Gun makes us all feel good that our approach works and is appreciated by audiences. It’s almost funny to me to see people who are so enamoured with real photography. Younger people almost haven’t seen a lot of it. They’re so used to CGI [computer-generated images] being a tool of big movies that when you shoot something for real, it feels innovative. That’s exactly the approach for Formula One … to shoot at the real races and real cars and capture it. It’s going to be a huge challenge but an exciting one for me.”

You can also see Kosinski’s work on the small screen at the moment too: Spiderhead has just launched on Netflix, marking a change of pace for Kosinski with the lower-key drama being the focus of the Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller-starring film.

Interestingly, the racing car movie seems to be undergoing a mini-revival of sorts. Neil Blomkamp is reportedly working on a Gran Turismo movie whilst it’s only been a couple of years since we had the excellent Ford V Ferrari – (titled as Le Mans 66 in the UK). Pitt and Kosinski were once set to make that project when it was originally titled Go Like Hell, but neither man would ultimately be involved.

This project which has been scripted by Top Gun: Maverick's Ehren Kruger, continues to generate lots of interest and you can be sure we’ll bring you more news including production windows and casting, as we hear it.

The Wrap

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