Brad Pitt's F1: Producer Clarifies Details About Movie's Reported $300M Budget

Summary Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski clarify that Brad Pitt's F1 movie's budget is lower than the reported $300 million due to rebates and increased sponsorship.

The film's actual budget is undisclosed, but it's expected to be within the hundreds of millions of dollars range.

F1's lower budget and Pitt's box office success suggest the film will likely be a profitable venture when it releases in 2025.

F1 producer Jerry Bruckheimer has clarified the reported $300 million budget of Brad Pitt's upcoming movie, with director Joseph Kosinski also chiming in about the reported cost. The Pitt-led F1 movie sees the star as Formula One driver Sonny Hayes, who comes out of retirement after an injury in the '90s to help train rookie Noah Pearce (Damson Idris) to compete in the Apex Grand Prix. The movie, which gets released in theaters on June 27, 2025, has a reported budget of $300 million, making it a highly expensive production.

Speaking with Deadline about the cost of F1, Bruckheimer explained how the alleged $300 million budget is higher than reality, citing rebates in different filming locations as an offsetting factor. Kosinski also joined in, reiterating the number misses the mark for how much the movie actually cost to make. Check out what Bruckheimer had Kosinski had to say below:

Jerry Bruckheimer: It’s completely, unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars out of whack in the wrong direction, and in the right direction for us. What people don’t realize is, first of all, we’re shooting in rebate [locations], England has a big rebate, lots of Europe has rebates and so does Abu Dhabi. It all lowers the budget. Plus, we’ve raised more money for our car [through sponsorship] than some Formula 1 teams. You take that all into consideration and it really drops that number quite a bit lower than what people would think.... We can’t give you a number because that’s Apple’s money and they can talk about it. But what I think you can say is it’s quite a bit lower than what’s been reported. Joseph Kosinski: I’m just going to say I’m used, on a lot of the movies I’ve worked on, to having them over-reported for whatever reason, but I’ve never had an experience where they were off by this much on a film. I’m not sure where that number came from.

Why F1's Budget Being Lower Than $300 Million Makes More Sense

In May, it was reported that Pitt's latest movie was going to cost around $300 million by the end of production, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made. F1's cost was concerning because there was no guarantee the film would be able to make so much money back, especially since there had been no indication of when the movie would be coming out. However, Bruckheimer and Kosinki's report indicates making back its budget won't be something the film will have to worry too much about.

While the duo say Apple has the concrete numbers about how much F1 cost to make, their insistence the price is lower than reported means it can still make back its budget in theaters. Generally speaking, Pitt movies have been box office successes, the star drawing plenty of attention to his films thanks to his acting skills and recognizable namesake. Given his role in the driver's seat for this upcoming sports drama and his character being a mentor, it seems the film will be able to draw plenty of attention when it comes out next year.

However, it's also unclear what the actual budget for F1 is, meaning the real number could still be somewhere within the hundreds of millions of dollars range. This is to be expected, though, since Pitt himself was paid a reported $30 million for leading the movie. Even though the racing movie's budget is probably still somewhere above $100 million, its probable cost being lower than $300 million is a good sign the movie will end up being a success when it hits theaters.

Brad Pitt's other upcoming acting role is in the 2024 action comedy Wolfs.

Source: Deadline