F1: The Movie raced straight to the top of the worldwide box office when it opened last June. Ultimately, it earned over $630 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing sports film of all time.
It was also last year's biggest 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%).
Despite finding such an unprecedented level of success, a sequel still hasn't been officially announced. However, F1: The Movie landing a surprise Oscar nomination for Best Picture might have changed things.
Talking to the BBC (via FullThrottleHQ.com), producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that a follow-up is moving forward when he said, "We're working on a sequel." The filmmaker declined to offer any sort of casting details or even a timeline for when work will begin, but made sure to point out that he will "of course" be involved with that.
Later admitting that he was "surprised" and delighted by the F1: The Movie's Oscar nomination, Bruckheimer added, "It was a long journey to get the movie made because we had to endure a couple of strikes – but in the end, the movie entertained audiences around the world. I never worked with Brad Pitt before, and it's really a thrill to work with Brad."
Beyond the box office and critical success F1 has found, it's not overly surprising that the movie is getting a sequel. This year, Formula 1 is moving from ESPN to Apple TV in the U.S., and the streamer is expected to make the sport one of the platform's biggest attractions.
Of course, if you're looking to keep up to date with all things F1, we'd suggest heading over to FullThrottleHQ.com now.
Ferrari driver and 7-time Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton was a producer on F1: The Movie through his Dawn Apollo Films label and also acted as a consultant.
"This is so incredibly surreal," he recently said of the movie's awards recognition. "It’s a tremendous honour to see the F1 movie nominated by the Academy, especially alongside such talented [artists] and storytellers."
"When we were making this movie, we knew we had something special, real and authentic on our hands, and it’s amazing to see everyone’s hard work and dedication recognised," Hamilton continued. "Major shout to everyone who worked on this, so, so deserved."
Stay tuned for more on F1: The Movie 2 (we're guessing it won't be called F2: The Movie for obvious reasons) as we have it.
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.