Brad Pitt and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski have raced into cinemas with F1, and it’s already off to a strong start at the box office – so, how much does it actually need to make?
Kosinski has always been a reliable commercial director: Tron: Legacy made over $400 million, Oblivion grossed just shy of $290m, and Top Gun: Maverick is one of the biggest movies ever made.
Going by its record-breaking opening weekend (more on that shortly), F1 is continuing his winning streak.
The new film stars Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a NASCAR “has-been” and former F1 prodigy recruited to fill out the APXGP team – and that means racing alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), a rookie who should be his teammate, but he becomes his rival.
F1 box office so far
F1 has made $144 million worldwide so far.
That is an extraordinary achievement. To put that haul into context, it’s the biggest box office opening in Apple TV’s history, beating Killers of the Flower Moon’s $44 million.
It’s also one of the biggest debuts for an original film this year (some people have tried to argue that it’s based on a pre-existing franchise – by that same logic, Rocky wouldn’t be an original film because it features boxing). For example, Sinners made $63.5 million in its first weekend.
F1 budget
The exact budget for F1 hasn’t been confirmed, but it’s believed to be anywhere between $200-300 million.
It is easily Apple TV’s most expensive movie yet, accounting for Pitt and co’s salaries and its extensive, practical set pieces in real cars. However, it definitely isn’t as high as $300 million, according to Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
“Not sure where that number came from,” the director said (via Screen Rant), while Bruckheimer said estimates were “tens of millions out of whack in the wrong direction.”
How much does F1 need to make?
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say F1 had a budget of $250 million. That would put its break-even point at around $625 million.
That may seem a little confusing, but it’s generally believed that a movie needs to make 2.5x its budget to break even (consider all of the costs; fees to exhibitors, merchandising, taxes, and much more).
However, it’s a little bit more complicated when it comes to F1. Firstly, it’s unclear how much was spent on marketing and how much of that would be included in the $250 million figure.
Secondly, as it’s been bankrolled by Apple TV, there will be plans for the film to generate revenue in other ways – aka, through streaming, so its box office performance isn’t as important as it is for other films.
Thirdly, it’s already made a substantial amount of money through sponsorships – $40 million, according to Forbes’ interview with David Leener, the producer in charge of the movie’s product placement.
Expensify, a company specializing in digital expense management for companies around the world, is reported to have spent an eight-figure sum to be the lead sponsor of the film’s F1 team.
“This is something that’s going to last forever. You have to realize you’re participating in something that’s so much bigger than what you set out to do – you just have to hang on and go along for the ride,” Expensify CEO David Barrett said.
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