Apple's "F1" Starring Brad Pitt Tops North American Box Office with Blockbuster Success

Global Box Office Revenue Expected to Reach $500?600 Million

Promotional image for 'F1' starring Brad Pitt. Image captured from Apple TV. Photo by Apple TV

Apple's self-produced racing film "F1: The Movie" (hereafter "F1") continues its box office success in the United States.

According to CNBC and other foreign media on July 5 (local time), "F1," starring Brad Pitt, topped the North American box office last weekend and surpassed a cumulative gross of $200 million. Since its release on June 27, the film has maintained its upward momentum, recording $155 million (approximately 211.5 billion KRW) in revenue during its opening weekend alone.

This puts "F1" on the verge of achieving the highest box office performance ever for an Apple-produced theatrical release. Until now, the most successful Apple theatrical release was "Napoleon," which was released in November 2023 and earned a total of about $221.4 million.

The Financial Times (FT) in the UK projected that "F1" could reach a global cumulative gross of $300 million by this weekend.

Apple had previously focused on releasing its original content through its streaming service Apple TV+, but since "Fly Me to the Moon" in 2023, the company has actively pursued a revenue model based on theatrical releases. However, both "Fly Me to the Moon" (which grossed about $160 million) and "Napoleon" were considered to have fallen short of box office expectations.

The production budget for "F1" exceeded $200 million, with Warner Bros. handling distribution. There is growing speculation that the film could become the first box office hit of the summer blockbuster season.

The film features Brad Pitt as a former Formula 1 (F1) racer who was active in the 1990s but retired after a major accident in 1993, returning after more than 30 years to make one final bid for the championship.

Worldwide box office revenue is expected to reach between $500 million and $600 million. If the final gross surpasses $517 million, it will exceed the combined box office performance of the previous four Apple-produced theatrical releases.