Brad Pitt's F1 Runs Over M3GAN 2.0 At The Box Office

It’s lights out and away we go at the box office as “F1,” a big-budget racing drama starring Brad Pitt, impressively revs to $55.6 million in its domestic opening weekend.

via: Deadline

It’s a win for original movies. It’s a win for racing car movies. It’s a win for the Zack Van Amburg- and Jamie Erlicht-led Apple Original Films on the big screen, and it’s another win for Warner Bros, which has showed under the Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy regime that original event movies can be launched.

Apple Original Films’ F1 via Warner Bros is opening to $144M worldwide and $55.6M domestic.

Said Head of Worldwide Video Van Amburg: “F1 has inspired audiences around the globe with its underdog story and perfect blend of high-octane racing and human-centered storytelling. The film’s outstanding debut reflects both the excitement of Formula 1 and the deeply emotional and entertaining story crafted by the entire cast and creative team. Their dedication and innovation have fueled an unforgettable cinematic experience.”

Head of Worldwide Video Erlicht added: “We’re thrilled by the global response to F1 and grateful to the audiences who’ve embraced the film with such enthusiasm. This success is a testament to the vision of Joe, Jerry, Brad, and Lewis, along with the efforts of the entire cast and crew. Together with Formula 1, they’ve created an inspiring cinematic journey that captures the energy and spirit of the sport.”

Overall, F1 has been a four-year track for Van Amburg, Erlicht and Head of Features Matt Dentler, who put this massive movie together, a collaboration with Formula One shooting at live races around the world.

For those cynics wondering why F1 didn’t move the odometer past it’s already overindexed $55M, we’re in a 10-day holiday stretch, dummies. The fantastic buzz is out there on this Brad Pitt movie, and now everyone wants the best Imax or PLF seats in the house, so they’ll wait. No one wants to sit in the first two rows. Plus, there’s plenty of times to go to the movies.

“Like a perfectly tuned F1 car, the Apple and Warner Bros. teams mounted a theatrical marketing and distribution plan that will be a blueprint for others, studios, and streamers alike, to follow moving forward and much like a crackerjack pit crew their strategy, executed with balletic precision, resulted in a successful launch while simultaneously delivering a great moviegoing experience,” said Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, “Most importantly, “F1 The Movie‘s release took a risk and cracked the elusive code on how to take a motorsports-themed movie and take it mainstream while demonstrating to Apple and other streaming-centric companies that a theatrical release represents (for the appropriate film) a branding bonanza and prestige-building opportunity that has no peer.”

While studios like Universal will tubthump their tentpoles through myriad tentacles of their entertainment vertical, Apple promotes its movies and series to those who own some of the 2.2 billion Apple products.

Read, for F1 the $3 trillion company introduced the first-of-its-kind haptic trailer for iPhone, a means of marketing that has rival studios jealous. The trailer used the Taptic Engine, a component inside the handset that creates tactile feedback. The trailer was timed to key moments in the trailer from the rumble of car engines to Pitt’s seat buckle.

There was a themed F1 keynote at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25), Apple’s biggest annual event, with a special screening and convo between the movie’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Apple’s Eddy Cue.

Apple Pay offered movie ticket discounts. Apple Retail Stores came alive with special appearances by CEO Tim Cook and Pitt, alongside interactive sessions with the movie’s artisans and curated in-store displays.

Apple Maps gave moviegoers a deeper dive into Formula 1, exploring the iconic Grand Prix racetracks featured in the film.

F1 was pushed on Apple Music, Apple Podcasts as well as Apple Fitness+, with a set of fast-paced new workouts inspired by the film.

Warners dropped the first teaser on July 7, roughly a year ahead of the movie’s release, in a partnership with Formula One. Foreign appeal on this movie was always there given the greater popularity of the racing sport abroad. But how do you even get domestic audiences in the car? Particularly the heartland? Similar to how Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick related the ups and downs of fighter pilots, the F1 campaign as sold on the idea of triumph and the underdog overcoming. Also accessibility. F1 stunts were never a velvet rope event, but made available to all, i.e. DHL Worldwide sponsored an “unboxing” of the cars in New York City’s Times Square timed to the pic’s premiere there two weeks ago. More F1 for the people included Pitt dropping in at an Imax screening in Austin to 400-plus fans. Media for F1 was pushed to the NASCAR fans as well at races like the Daytona 500.

In addition to Apple and Formula One roaring their engines for F1, there were 33 global promotional partners. Total worldwide media value was north of $100M-plus. iHeartRadio pushed the pic’s soundtrack to markets like Nashville, raising its profile. Other partners included Mercedes-Benz, T-Mobile for movie ticketing, Heineken and KFC, the latter having its biggest promotion ever on a Hollywood movie.

Mexico has been a big global stop for Warner Bros’ movies’ Sinners and A Minecraft Movie and was again for F1, where footage was shown from the movie, content creators gathered along with Pitt in attendance. Pitt, a la Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson, left no stone unturned in promoting this movie around the world.

In regard to those on the production, promoting the film on social, RelishMix gave props to F1 producer/Formula One champion driver Lewis Hamilton, who has been talking about the movie to his 55.8M fans. Co-star Damson Idris has also been active about the movie with his 2.4M fans.

The social media convo on F1 is running positive with both racing and action movie fans praising the promise of this movie. The driving scenes featured in the trailer are exciting viewers, with director Kosinski seemingly bringing the same rush he brought to fighter jets in Top Gun: Maverick to racing in this film. Sample comments: “It really looks AWESOME. I cannot wait to see the movie. Brad Pitt and F1 will be EPIC!” and “These camera angles looking fire.” Its connection to the real F1 racing community is enticing many longtime supporters: “I spotted Fernando Alonso in the trailer,” and “I can’t wait. Apparently, Lewis Hamilton is a producer and trying to make it as real as possible.”

Kosinski used a new type of Imax digital cameras to shoot the movie, creating miniatures that were fastened to the Formula One cars. The movie was promoted to be seen in all large formats. Imax screens cleared $12.8M, repping 23% of the North American debut from just 414 auditoriums, becoming the eighth film in Imax history and third year-to-date to achieve 20%+ indexing. F1 is booked in Imax for two weeks (not three, as we reported).

Meanwhile, Universal/Blumhouse’s M3GAN 2.0 didn't exactly slay the box office, getting run over by F1, but not because she decided to step on the track. Less than the release date, her tanking here with $10.2M has more to do with the movie being more campy and less fearsome.

Total box office per Comscore is $127.5M, -18% off from a year ago, when there was the third $57.5M weekend of Inside Out 2, the $52.2M opening of A Quiet Place: Day One, and even Kevin Costner’s Horizon doing $11M. However, the 2025 box office year stands at $4.1 billion, raging +15 ahead of the Jan. 1-June 29 period of last year.

1.) F1 (Apple/WB) 3,661 theaters Fri $25M, Sat $17.5M, Sun $13.1M 3-day $55.6M/Wk 1

2.) How to Train Your Dragon (Uni) 4,127 (-246) theaters, Fri $5.8M (-46%) Sat $7.6M Sun $5.9M 3-day $19.4M (-47%), Total $200M/Wk 3

3.) Elio (Dis) 3,750 theaters, Fri $3.2M (-64%) Sat $4.2M Sun $3.3M 3-day $10.7M (-49%), Total $42.2M/Wk 2

4.) M3GAN 2.0. (Uni) 3,112 theaters, Fri $4.5M Sat $3.2M Sun $2.4M 3-day $10.2M/Wk 1

5.) 28 Years Later (Sony) 3,444 theaters, Fri $3M (-79%), 3-day $9.5M (-68%), Total $50.1M/Wk 2

6.) Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 2,900 (-475) theaters, Fri $2M (-32%), Sat $2.8M, Sun $2.1M 3-day $6.9M (-29%), Total $400M/Wk 6

7.) Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Par) 2,157 (-446) theaters, Fri $1.1M (-38%) Sat $1.7M Sun $1.3M 3-day $4.1M (-36%), Total $186M/Wk 6

8.) Materialists (A24) 1,931 (-913) theaters, Fri $946K (-51%) Sat $1.1M Sun $880K 3-day $2.99M (-48%), Total $30.4M/Wk 3

9.) Ballerina (LG) 1,796 (-741) theaters, Fri $600K, Sat $900K Sun $630K 3-day $2.1M (-52%), Total $55.4M/Wk 4

10) Karate Kid: Legends (Sony) 925 (-1,081) theaters, Fri $275K (-62%), Sat $415K Sun $310K 3-day $1M (-58%), Total $51.5M/Wk 5

11.) Final Destination Bloodlines (NL) 742 (-600) theaters, Fri $285K (-52%), Sat $375K, Sun $245K 3-day $905K (-52%), Total $136.6M/Wk 7