Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer has denied reports that the F1 film starring Brad Pitt will see its budget balloon to a massive $300 million, calling the number “out of whack” with reality.
Production for the film simply entitled ‘F1’ began in 2023, with crews and the fictional APXGP team – complete with its own hospitality area, pit garage, and cars – seamlessly embedding with the sport’s field of competitors at several Grands Prix.
However, amidst Hollywood labor strikes, reports surfaced claiming the film's budget had skyrocketed to a staggering $300 million – a figure more in line with superhero blockbuster productions.
But the claims were vehemently denied by Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski, who assured the actual budget is significantly lower than $300 million.
“It’s completely, unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars out of whack in the wrong direction, and in the right direction for us,” Bruckheimer told Deadline.
“What people don’t realize is, first of all, we’re shooting in rebate [tax credit 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.”
F1 film producer Jerry Bruckheimer with Max Verstappen.
Kosinski, known for directing the Oscar-winning "Top Gun: Maverick," echoed Bruckheimer's sentiment.
“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,” he said.
Bruckheimer also further clarified rumors suggesting that costly reshoots had been necessary due to last year’s SAG-AFTRA industry strikes.
“We never re-shot anything, nothing whatsoever,” said the 80-year-old producer. “It’s a misnomer, a rumor that got spread.
“No, once the strike happened, we just focused on the cars, and focused on the driving [with the stunt drivers, not the actors].
“We made a smaller unit, cut down our staff and everything to save money. And then we just carried on to all the different tracks. We basically finished all the second unit stuff.”
During last weekend’s British Grand Prix, stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris once again integrated with the real world of Formula 1, interacting with drivers on the grid and even filming interviews in the media pen.
Kosinski described the pressure of filming in the middle of an actual race as intense as a real life F1 “pit stop”.
“Last year, at Silverstone, we had a scene we shot on the grid,” he explained. “I think we had something like nine minutes to shoot a one, or one-and-a-half-page dialogue scene with three actors.
“It’s like a pitstop. It really brings an intensity and everyone’s leaning forward in a way that maybe you wouldn’t on a normal shoot day on a soundstage, where you’ve got 10 hours to get right.
“Now, when you’ve got nine minutes, with all the actors you can just see the adrenaline going beforehand and you feel that in the performances.”
The teaser trailer for "F1" – which you can watch here – premiered internationally last Sunday, building anticipation for the film’s global theatrical release on June 25, 2025.
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