Brad Pitt is a star whose upcoming projects continue to attract intense media interest even after so many years in the spotlight. Indeed, he is an actor who is providing some of his strongest performances during this mid-life stage of his career.
Given the tremendous variety of roles he has taken on and his earlier highlights that is really saying something. Pitt has moved seamlessly from roles in dark thrillers like Seven and Fight Club to glossy all-star blockbusters such the Ocean’s franchise, which helped to fuel interest in online poker real money games and casinos in general.
The most exciting project that Pitt is currently linked with is one that centers on the F1 racing championship. So what do we know about it at this stage?
Who is Involved?
Unsurprisingly, Pitt will be taking the leading role in this film, which is believed to have ‘Apex’ as its working title. However, aside from that, we do already have some information about other people who are involved in the project.
A full list of the cast has not yet been made available, but Damon Idris and Kerry Condon are reported as co-stars. That will help to spark excitement for the film, as Condon is going into it off the back of a BAFTA win for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and the young Irish actress is clearly a rising star.
Idris is another up and coming young actor, this time from the UK. It is thought that he will play the part of a talented but comparatively inexperienced driver that the Pitt character takes under his wing.
Condon is rumored to have been cast as the technical director for the fictional F1 team at the heart of the film. It is not just on screen talent that has been lined up though.
The producer will be Jerry Bruckheimer, who has a huge track record and most recently produced ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ which was a box office smash. The director of that movie, Joseph Kosinski, is also confirmed to helm this film.
Then there is the real-life F1 connection…
Top British racing driver Lewis Hamilton has significant involvement in the project. He has a production company called Dawn Apollo Films that is co-producing it and will also be taking an onscreen role.
Hamilton is one of the biggest F1 names so that will definitely increase the anticipation. It suggests that we can expect the racing to be portrayed with real accuracy and means that F1 fans will be as excited as regular movie lovers.
Thanks to the ‘Drive to Survive’ documentary series and movies like ‘Ford vs. Ferrari’, motor racing is a hot subject right now and this movie could really capitalize on that buzz.
Kosinski has revealed that his direction will concentrate on capturing F1 racing action as authentically as possible, giving viewers “the sensation of what it’s like to be in one of those cars.”
Details of the Plot
Plot information is being kept pretty tightly under wraps, but we do have a basic outline. The film will see Pitt as a veteran driver by the name of Sonny Hayes who comes back to act as a mentor to Idris’s younger driver.
It is not the most original plot line, but does show Pitt’s range. It is a marked departure from his most recent high profile role as a fictionalized version of tragic silent era actor John Gilbert in the lavish movie Babylon.
No doubt there are more complexities to the plot of this film that we will discover nearer the time.
Pitt Hits Silverstone
Further evidence that the movie will take the world of F1 racing seriously was the visit by Pitt to the Silverstone race track last autumn. Alongside Kosinski and Bruckheimer he attended a meeting with the F1 team bosses.
Silverstone is being used for the actual race filming too and that process is now underway. Hamilton has been quoted as saying:
“It’s massively exciting to see it all coming together and to know that we’re finally starting to film this weekend.”
Shooting a movie using a real-life F1 track in the middle of the racing season causes some logistical difficulties though. The British Grand Prix was taking place on the same day as filming and the production had to be given a pitwall stand and garage with the name ‘APX GP.’
Pitt also attended the drivers’ briefing that always takes place on the Friday before the race, to help him get more of a feel for the world of an F1 driver.
A release date is still to be announced but it is sure to be sometime next year.
This looks like a winner for Pitt and will interest both movie and racing fans.