F1 The Movie debuted as the #1 movie at the global box office when it opened on June 27 last year, and it's since grossed over $630 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing sports film of all time.
It was also last year's highest-grossing original feature, delivering the biggest opening for an original live-action film in the US in the last five years, as well as Brad Pitt's highest-grossing feature to date. The film received an A CinemaScore, along with an impressive 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (where it was "Certified Fresh" with critics with 82%).
A movie that's found such a huge level of success is almost guaranteed to get a sequel, but F1 The Movie 2 has yet to be announced. F1 has since entered into a new partnership with Apple TV, which released the movie in theaters, to stream its races on the platform starting this year.
With that in mind, telling another big-screen story in the world of Formula 1 is surely a priority for both companies. Fortunately, it sounds like a follow-up is in the early stages of development.
During a recent interview with Sky Sports, Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali was asked about the chances of an F1 The Movie sequel. "Well, I think that is ‘never say never.’ We're working on a plan," he confirmed. "It will not be too soon, because we need to digest it."
"By the way, we're going to launch Apple, we're going to launch that on December 12, so there will be a longer effect of the first movie," the Italian added, referring to the movie's launch on the Apple TV streaming service last month.
As for what a potential sequel could look like, Domenicali said, "The next one has to be credible, authentic, and new."
Last November, director Joseph Kosinski seemingly revealed that a follow-up would continue to revolve around the same characters from the first movie, including Brad Pitt's Sonny Hayes.
"We're in that stage of just kind of dreaming up what that next chapter for Sonny Hayes would be and for APXGP," the filmmaker teased. "But, you know, based on the reaction from around the world to this movie, it's something that people wanna see, and I'd be happy to go back and do it because we had so much fun making this one."
Executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer went one step further, revealing, "We met with Lewis Hamilton a couple of weeks ago, and started talking about some ideas." He went on to describe F1 The Movie as "emotional, fun, and it's a great night out at the theatre."
Apple CEO Tim Cook also appears keen to continue the franchise. "It's definitely something that's being talked about," he shared at the Emmys in September. "It's been such a huge summer blockbuster for us. We're so proud of it. The talent involved are such next level, and Brad [Pitt] did such a wonderful job acting in it. We're super proud of it, and we can't wait to bring it to the surface."
Stay tuned for more updates on the F1 The Movie sequel as we have them.
Dubbed "the greatest that never was," Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was FORMULA 1's most promising phenom of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling FORMULA 1 team that is on the verge of collapse.
Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to FORMULA 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him and he finds that in FORMULA 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition — and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.