Apple Studios have announced that they have acquired the rights to a new Formula One movie which will have Brad Pitt starring, with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton set to produce the movie. The film is going to be directed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, who will also serve as a producer alongside Hamilton, Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Jerry Bruckheimer. Ehren Kruger, who worked with Kosinski on Top Gun: Maverick, will be working on the screenplay.

Further details about the movie haven’t been released yet, but it has been reported that the film will see Pitt starring as a former driver who comes out of retirement to take up the challenge against a young, up-and-coming talent. 

The as-of-yet untitled film won’t be the first time Hamilton heads into Hollywood. The veteran Brit has previously appeared in a voice-role in Cars 2 and Cars 3 and also had a cameo in the film Zoolander 2. For Pitt, on the other hand, who has been a long-time Formula One fan and has been seen at various Grands Prix over the years, this would be his second high-profile sports movie, who previously also starred in Moneyball. 

The development of the movie comes at a time when the sport has been growing exponentially worldwide, with a recent Nielsen study showing that Formula One will have more than one billion fans by the end of the current year. The Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive has been instrumental in helping the sport break into the US market, and it looks like the Netflix effect has worked once again.