The gears are reportedly turning on a potential sequel toF1following its successful opening weekend.Joseph Kosinski’sBrad PittFormula One film raced out of the gate and managed to run laps around its box office competition,collecting $57 million from theatersin the US and Canada and $146.3 million worldwide against a budget of $250 million. A strong debut significantly increases the likelihood of a sequel getting greenlit, and Variety reports that Apple and Warner Bros. are not ready to bring the checkered flag down on the sports drama just yet.
According to knowledgeable sources, momentum is building around anF1sequel, even though the film only released in theaters on June 27. The high-octane racing featureshares a pedigree withTop Gun: Maverick,as director Kosinski reunited with several crew members from his jet-fighting sequel, including producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Ehren Kruger, no doubt in the hopes of blazing a similar success story. However, he says the decision of whether the film ends up with a sequel is for the audience to decide. He recently told GQ:
Wait, Could We Actually Get an ‘F1’ Sequel?
If ‘F1’ is a financial success, chances remain high that the critically acclaimed racing movie will receive a sequel.
“That’s up for the audience to decide. I think we leave it on a really open-ended moment for Sonny (Brad Pitt), for Kate (Kerry Condon), and for Joshua (Damson Idris). So yeah, I think there’s certainly more to tell of the APXGP team, and where Sonny Hayes goes from here. But that’s not my decision.”
As well as a significant box office opening,F1hasreceived strong critical acclaim. The film, which tells the story of a retired Formula One driver who returns to the track to mentor a hotshot rookie, currently holds an 83% critics' score and 97% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with praise for its exhilarating racing scenes, immersive visuals, and charismatic performances.F1’s commercial and critical success is a telling signpost for its sequel prospects, and so far, it looks like Apple and Warner Bros. have scored a winner.
Is ‘F1’ About to Crossover With ‘Days of Thunder’?
F1leaves plenty of room to expand in a second film, either picking up where the last movie left off, or shifting gears to explore the racing drivers' backstories in a prequel. Kosinski also has the opportunity to pull out all the stops and usher in a crossover betweenF1andTom Cruise’s cult-classic racing film from the ’90s,Days of Thunder. The filmmaker, who just worked with Pitt onF1and previously collaborated with Cruise onTop Gun: Maverick, recently pitched the idea, revealing that he already has the plot in mind to make it happen:
“Well, right now, it’d be Cole Trickle, who was [Cruise’s]Days of Thundercharacter, we find out that he and [Brad Pitt’s] Sonny Hayes have a past. They were rivals at some point, maybe crossed paths… I heard about this epic go-kart battle onInterview With the Vampirethat Brad and Tom had, and who wouldn’t pay to see those two go head-to-head on the track?”
Days of Thunder 2appears to be in the works, regardless of whether it ties in with the prospectiveF1sequel, as Cruise admitted while promoting the latestMission: Impossiblethat conversations are happening. Now we can only hope that both projects — or an epic crossover of the two — make it over the finish line, as not all of these plans are confirmed as yet. However, if the early success ofF1is anything to go by, cinemagoers are up for high-octane big-budget experiences, whether it comes from an original film or a legacy sequel.
Sources:Variety,GQ
