Brad Pitt has hinted at a sequel to his latest film F1, while revealing why a version of Ford v Ferrari featuring himself alongside Tom Cruise was axed.
The new racing movie, which was released in cinemas on 25 June, earned over $140m (£103m) at the global box office in its opening weekend.
According to Variety, its distributor Apple is already discussing the possibility of a follow-up film. In an interview with The National, Pitt said: “I would want to drive again, selfishly speaking.”
He added: “F1 is still the focus. It needs to be on Joshua Pierce – Damson Idris’s character – and the rest of the team fighting for a championship. Where does Sonny [Pitt’s character] fit in? I’m not sure. Sonny’s probably out on the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting speed records or something like that. So I’m not sure beyond that, just yet.”
Joseph Kosinski, the director of F1 and Top Gun: Maverick, has already talked up the idea of a sequel featuring Pitt and Cruise, who turned up to the racing film’s red carpet event in London to support his friend.
“Well, right now, it’d be Cole Trickle, who was [Cruise’s] Days of Thunder character, we find out that he and [Pitt’s] Sonny Hayes have a past,” Kosinski told GQ Magazine. “They were rivals at some point, maybe crossed paths. … I heard about this epic go-kart battle on [the set of 1994 film] Interview With a Vampire that Brad and Tom had, and who wouldn’t pay to see those two go head-to-head on the track?”
The director had previously planned to bring Pitt and Cruise together in his own version of Ford V Ferrari – a racing thriller that would eventually be made by A Complete Unknown’s James Mangold in 2019, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. It was released in the UK under the title Le Mans’66, but remains better known by its original US title.
When Kosinski was attached to the project, the studio allegedly refused to give the filmmaker the budget he desired.
Pitt also told The National that the film was scrapped as both actors wanted to race in the movie, which caused its own disappointments.
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“Tom and I, for a while there, were on Ford v Ferrari with Joe [to direct]. This was about 10 years before the guys who actually made it – and made it a great movie,” Pitt said.
“What it came down to is that we both wanted to drive, and [Tom] wanted to play Shelby, and I wanted to play Ken Miles. And when Tom realized that Carroll Shelby would not be driving much in the movie, it didn’t come through. So I’m not sure how that’s going to work [in a potential F1 sequel], but we’ll give it a go. I’d love to.”
Speaking on the success of F1, Pitt added: “We were all a bit white-knuckled to see if it was going to come through. We are delightfully surprised that everything that we had aimed for, and then some, came to fruition.”
