Apple Drops Big Money To Acquire Brad Pitt Racing Drama From ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

In the span of just a few months, Brad Pitt has launched two studio bidding wars, and both were won by Apple. Last year, Apple shelled out big bucks to acquire a “lone wolf fixers” film from director Jon Watts that would reunite Pitt and George Clooney. And now the studio has rolled out the money truck to acquire the recently-announced Formula One racing drama with Pitt and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.

Deadline reports Apple spent somewhere between $130M to $140M to acquire the untitled racing drama, which centers on a retired racecar driver who mentors a young upstart for one last shot at glory. The film also has the backing of Top Gun and Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and a script by Transformers writer Ehren Kruger.

There is not a single person involved who settles for small films, so expect this to be huge.

Pitt is on a hot streak following his Oscar win for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Next up for him are a small role in The Lost City opposite Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, plus action flick Bullet Train from director David Leitch.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.