F1directorJoseph Kosinskihas admitted that his upcoming Formula One movie would be very different withTom Cruisebehind the wheel instead ofBrad Pitt. The filmmaker, who previously collaborated with Cruise onOblivionandTop Gun: Maverick,started developing the racing movie with producer Jerry Bruckheimer while they were still in post-production on the stunt-filledTop Gunsequel, but instead of teaming up with Cruise again, they put Pitt in the driver’s seat. When asked to consider the alternative route, Kosinski told GQ:
“Tom always pushes it to the limit, but at the same time is super capable and very skilled. They both have the natural talent for driving. But yeah, I could see Tom maybe scaring us a little bit more.”
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Graham Kelly, an action-vehicle supervisor onF1, who has experience working withCruise on theMission: Impossiblefranchise, concurred with Kosinski. “We’d have had a crash,” he quipped. “Tom pushes it to the limit. I meanreallyto the limit. That terrifies me. I mean, I’ve done loads ofMission: Impossibles with Tom and it’s the most stressful experience for someone like me, building cars for him, doing stunts with him. Whereas Brad listens, and he knows his abilities, and I think he’d be the first to say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that.'”
Interestingly, Kosinski nearly teamed up with Cruise and Pitt on another auto-racing romp, as hedeveloped an early version ofFord v FerrarititledGo Like Hell, based on a 2009 book by A.J. Baime, with both actors attached to star. However, the project ultimately fell through, as the budget proposed to the studio was considered too steep. James Mangold ended up taking the hot seat, directing the version that made it to the big screen in 2019, with Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the lead roles of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles, respectively.
How Does ‘F1’ Differ to ‘Top Gun: Maverick’?
Comparisons can be drawn between Kosinski’sF1andTop Gun: Maverick, given that the director has reunited with several people from hisTop Guncrew, including Bruckheimer and writer Ehren Kruger, and they are both big-budget blockbusters that prioritize practical effects over CGI. There are also some similarities between jet fighter pilots and sports car drivers, withKosinski previously noting, “They are rock stars of their own universe. And obviously, they both have a need for speed.” However, he also highlighted the key differences:
“On Top Gun, we were off on an aircraft carrier 100 miles off the coast. This movie we shot in front of an audience of 400,000 people. Often, I had only a few minutes to shoot a scene because we were actually shooting it at the real live event. There was a stage-play-esque vibe to this where we had to be very well-prepared, but execute in the moment and only get a few takes at a scene.”
Thefinal trailer forF1provided an exhilarating teaser of the film’s compelling racing footage and its central redemption story, following Pitt’s Sonny Hayes, a retired Formula One driver who returns to the track to mentor a hotshot rookie. Kosinski will likely be hoping to replicate the hypersonic run ofTop Gun: Maverick, as that movie ended up grossing nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office. Only time will tell, butF1is now quickly speeding up to its debut in theaters and IMAX in North America on June 27, and its international release on June 25.
Source:GQ Magazine
