At the June 9 “F1” premiere in Mexico City, star Brad Pitt spoke with E! News about potentially making a film with fellow box office champ Tom Cruise, an old buddy of Pitt.
“He’s sweet,” the “Ocean’s 11” actor said. “Yeah, we did have our go-cart days back in the ’90s,” admitting that Cruise was the superior racer then. Pitt does have stipulations on what would be expected to him if he was ever to appear alongside the ambitious “Mission: Impossible” stunt performer.
“Well, I’m not gonna hang my ass off airplane shit like that,” he said. “When he does something again that’s on the ground.”
No matter his stuntman bonafides, “F1” director Joseph Kosinski, who also directed Cruise in “Top Gun Maverick,” said that Cruise was not considered to play Pitt’s role in the Formula One racing drama.
“Tom always pushes it to the limit, but at the same time is super capable and very skilled. They both have the natural talent for driving. But, yeah, I could see Tom maybe scaring us a little bit more,” Kosinski told GQ.
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Pitt’s new movie was first screened for an audience of real Formula One drivers in May ahead of the Monaco Gand Prix. Racer Lando Norris — who also appears in the movie — praised the “inspirational story,” adding that “it had a lot of different meanings behind it all. But a cool storyline and a lot of inspiration for young people coming into it.”
“It’s going to make people want to watch F1, which is really the goal of it,” driver Oliver Bearman said. “The onboard shots and the work that they did was actually quite incredible — it was impressive to see the technology that they can use.”
Pitt said that, like his “F1” character, he had precise rituals when preparing for each day of shooting.
“My OCD… before getting in the car, I always have to get in on the left side. I have to put my left shoe on first. I have to put my left glove on first. My belt — the guys knew we had to do left first [before] right. If they didn’t we’d have to start over,” he explained.
“F1” hits IMAX theaters on June 25, with its wide release following two days later on June 27. Watch the trailer below:
