Apple's ‘F1’ Movie May Jolt Lackluster Formula 1 US Rights Bids

Apple Inc.’s new Formula One car-racing film F1 roared to the top of the box office in its debut, taking in $57 million in US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore Inc.

The picture, which stars Brad Pitt as an aging driver returning for one more go on the circuit, was expected to generate about $50 million going into the weekend, according to an estimate from Box Office Pro.

Geetha Ranganathan, Bloomberg Intelligence Analyst on US Media, joins Bloomberg Intelligence to report on the 'F1' movie.

The movie is seen as another test of Apple’s strategy to release its films in theaters before they appear on the Apple TV+ streaming service. F1 ranks among the company’s most expensive pictures, costing more than $200 million to make. It was distributed in cinemas by Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which reported the weekend results on Sunday.

“Clearly this is Apple’s biggest theatrical movie ever and they’ve been really supportive of the performance” during the film’s opening weekend, which was “pretty amazing” at $144 million worldwide, Jeff Goldstein, the president of global theatrical distribution at Warner Bros., said in an interview.

Although the audience for F1 in its first days of screening was predominantly male, it’s getting wider each day as different demographics recommend the picture, Goldstein said.

Imax Corp.’s giant screens delivered just under a quarter of the weekend’s box office haul in North America, Rich Gelfond, the company’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “I’ve got to think Apple is going to be very encouraged by these results and I think it does ensure they make more blockbuster movies,” Gelfond said.

Critics generally praised the realism of the film, which was partially shot using tiny iPhone-style cameras attached inside cars during actual races. It earned an 83% approval rating among professional reviewers, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

The crew shot scenes on Formula One tracks from Abu Dhabi to Japan, getting access to garages, pit lanes and inner sanctums. Real race announcers were also used.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Bloomberg in an interview that it took more than a year to make the various Formula One teams comfortable with the idea of a film about their sport.

“We said, ‘We’re gonna embed ourselves into your world and make the most authentic movie possible about it,’” Bruckheimer said. “They were our true partners in this, otherwise we wouldn’t have got the access that we got.”

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