Movies

Brad Pitt and ‘F1 The Movie’ zoom to $55.6 million in Apple’s biggest box office debut

BBG News

Over the weekend, the racing movie “F1 The Movie,” spearheaded by Brad Pitt, zoomed to the number one spot at the box office. This is just one more major summer film that Hollywood anticipates will continue enticing audiences to cinemas.

The highly anticipated movie “Top Gun: Maverick,” directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, earned an impressive $55.6 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada. This is more than what analysts had predicted for a non-sequel racing film. In fact, those who took pre-release audience surveys thought it would make between $40 million and $50 million.

Leveraging the worldwide popularity of Formula One car races, the movie earned an extra $88 million from international box offices. However, with a production cost exceeding $200 million (not accounting for promotional expenses), “F1” will have to sell many more tickets to reach the break-even point.

This year, only three Hollywood films – “A Minecraft Movie”, “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” – have earned over $500 million worldwide, and all of them had a higher opening in the U.S. than an F1 race.

Nonetheless, with “F1,” the iPhone maker has its first box office hit.

Despite Apple TV+’s critical acclaim for series like “Severance,” “The Studio,” and “Your Friends & Neighbors” – as well as winning its first Best Picture Oscar in 2022 with “CODA” – its movies had yet to secure top billing at the box office.

Hollywood Inc.

Apple TV+’s shows such as “Severance” and “The Studio” have garnered high praise from critics, however, it’s still relatively smaller in comparison to numerous competing streaming platforms.

Previously, big-name movies like the 2024 espionage comedy “Argylle” and sci-fi romance comedy “Fly Me to the Moon,” featuring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, have faced challenges in cinemas.

The blockbuster movie “F1” received a significant boost from an extensive promotion on Imax screens, making it appear as a top choice for a cinematic experience. According to the cinema technology provider, Imax screens accounted for approximately one-quarter of the domestic weekend earnings for “F1.” Moreover, nearly six out of ten domestic ticket sales were generated by large-screen formats such as Imax, Dolby Cinema, and motion seats.

Typically, Apple collaborated with a significant production house for the theatrical distribution. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling the distribution of “F1,” expanding their successful lineup that includes “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners,” and “Final Destination Bloodlines.” The film was also produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, along with Jerry Bruckheimer.

Quality also helped.

Jerry Bruckheimer recently said that the movie is full of emotion, excitement, romance, and humor. He explained that this is what draws him to filmmaking – creating movies that leave you spellbound on the big screen, making you feel like you’ve embarked on a genuine adventure and lost track of time for a while. That’s the aim every time he starts a new project.

Positive feedback from both audiences and critics signals a promising future for the film’s box office earnings and its performance on Apple’s streaming platform. CinemaScore polls indicated that the movie received an “A” rating from viewers, while Rotten Tomatoes shows it has a 83% fresh score among critics.

The murderous doll sequel from Universal Pictures, “M3GAN 2.0,” didn’t perform as strongly. It opened with a modest $10 million, placing fourth in the U.S. box office, outperformed by holdover films like “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Elio.”

As a cinephile, I had high expectations for the Blumhouse film, anticipating it to rake in approximately $20 million on its opening weekend. However, it fell significantly short of the resounding success that the original film achieved back in 2023, which opened with a staggering $30 million and ultimately grossed an impressive $180 million globally.

In summary, the horror genre has experienced a remarkable surge lately. This began with Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” which has raked in an impressive $364 million globally, and continued with “Final Destination Bloodlines” and the reinvigoration of the zombie franchise titled “28 Years Later.

Movies such as “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Lilo & Stitch” demonstrate a lasting appeal, indicating that family-oriented films remain popular choices at the cinema. However, Disney and Pixar’s original animated film “Elio” marked an unusual exception, as it recorded Pixar’s poorest opening weekend performance to date last week.

Over the weekend, “Elio” garnered approximately $11 million in both the United States and Canada, boosting its domestic and Canadian earnings to a modest $42 million. This figure represents the revenue generated from the $150-million animated movie so far.

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2025-06-29 20:03

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