Brad Pitt’s ‘Apex’ Begins To Pick Up Speed, Shooting Commences In June

In the midst of the WGA strikes, many films including Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled tenth feature starring Leonardo DiCaprio have been put on holt as the strikes play out, however one film has been picking up speed in recent week regardless of the events taking place, that being Brad Pitt’s Formula One film, now entitled ‘Apex’.

The film will be the next feature from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ helmer Joseph Kosinski with shooting set to commence in June and run all the way until December. The film stars Brad Pitt as a Formula One racing driver that comes out of retirement to race once again.

Brad Pitt at the 24h of Le Mans (2016)

Shooting is set to begin in June, with recent first-time Oscar nominee (for ‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’) Kerry Condon joining the growing ensemble cast, playing the technical director of the fictional Formula One team Pitt races for. 

Pitt himself will be driving a modified Formula Two (the feeder series of Formula One) car designed by Mercedes, the constructor which won every Formula One world championship between 2014 and 2020. 

Shooting will take place in-between sessions on actual Formula One race weekends starting with the British Grand Prix in July, and will continue to do so until the end of the season in Abu Dhabi. 

Joseph Kosinski directing ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (2022)

Kosinski and Co. are continuing with their technological developments they achieved with ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ by fitting in six IMAX cameras into the cockpit of a fighter plane by creating the smallest moveable 6K camera ever designed, with the intention of taking the viewer inside the cockpit. 

Apple fought off other distributors in a major bidding war last year, purchasing the feature for $140M. The budget is thought to be around those numbers, similar to ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, with a six month shoot from June to November.

No word on a release date as of yet, however many pundits are pencilling in a pre-Thanksgiving opening weekend in early November of 2024 as the perfect opportunity for box office success and attention from the awards circuit, with a premiere at the Venice Film Festival out of competition a strong possibility.