F1: The Movie — Porsche takes you behind the scenes of Apple’s box office hit

F1: The Movie has given Apple its first-ever box office hit. The racing movie starring Brad Pitt and directed by Joseph Kosinski dominated the weekend box office in North America and also globally on its debut, raking in $55.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, and about $144 million worldwide, making it the top-performing release.  

“This is star Brad Pitt’s biggest global opening ever ($144 million), besting World War Z‘s $111.8 million, as well as his second-biggest domestic debut after that zombie movie’s $66.4 million,” Boxoffice Pro commented, adding: “It’s also the biggest debut ever for Apple, who threw big marketing money at this to take it across the finish line.”

On Sunday, Porsche released a behind-the-scenes look at how Chip Hart Racing — the fictional Porsche GT endurance team that features in F1: The Movie — came together, including how it was rebranded from a real Porsche race team called Wright Motorsports.

The three-and-a-half minute video includes plenty of action footage shot by the filmmakers at the legendary Daytona racetrack in Florida. Some of the Daytona scenes were filmed during the Rolex 24 Hours event in January 2024, and involved embedding a fictional team into the real race to make the footage more realistic. Additional shots were captured away from the race, giving the moviemakers more freedom to set up specific scenes.

Porsche’s video reveals the huge collaborative effort that helped bring some of the racing scenes to the big screen, at the same time showcasing the automaker’s involvement in shaping the story and the racing spirit, which is a key part of the movie.

As the film’s title suggests, F1: The Movie focuses on Formula 1 racing, with the Daytona footage mostly confined to the film’s opening. But nevertheless, the behind-the-scenes content highlights Porsches’ connection to the racing world and how it supported the movie’s realistic depiction of motor racing. 

“I wanted to make the most authentic racing film I could,” director Kosinski says in the video. “Without Porsche, we wouldn’t have had access to the cars, providing the training. All of that has been really incredible.”