StarBrad Pittiseyeing one of the biggest box office debuts of his careerthis weekend, with the sports dramaF1launching in theaters worldwide. The movie is also expected to deliver the top debut in the history of Apple Studios, ahead ofMartin Scorsese’sKillers of the Flower Moon, and is aiming for a $55 million three-day haul domestically.F1is off to a great start, havingearned excellent reviews from both audiences and critics. In fact, the movie has earned the bestCinemaScoreof Pitt’s career, in addition to a near-perfect audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
This establishes directorJoseph Kosinskias a particularly skilled blockbuster filmmaker; his last movie wasTop Gun: Maverick, which grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and continues to hold a stunning 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.F1isn’t far off that high benchmark; it currentlyholds a 97% audience scoreon the aggregator website, where its critics' score is sitting at a solid 83%. The website’s consensus reads, “Driven by Brad Pitt’s laid-back magnetism and sporting a souped-up engine courtesy of Joseph Kosinski’s kinetic direction,F1 The Moviebrings vintage cool across the finish line.”
In his review, Collider’sRoss Bonaimewrote thatF1is “quite possibly one of the most impressive and exciting racing films ever made.“According to CinemaScore, which tabulates how likely an audience member is to recommend a given movie to others,F1earned an A gradefrom opening day crowds. This is on par with Pitt’sMoneyball, the rather unconventional sports drama directed byBennett Millerand co-written bySteven ZaillianandAaron Sorkin. It scored higher than past Pitt hits such asThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button,Seven Years in Tibet,World War Z, andMr. & Mrs. Smith. The lowest-rated movie of Pitt’s career as a leading man isKilling Them Softly, which earned a nearly unprecedented F grade.
‘F1’ Puts Pitt’s Stardom to the Test
A higher CinemaScore typically means longer legs at the box office, which is necessary for a movie to survive the highly competitive summer season. Set in the world of Formula One racing,F1reportedlycost a whopping $250 million to produce, which means that it would need to generate around half-a-billion dollars worldwide in order to break even. It’s looking at a global box office debut of over $100 million, which should be a good start. Also starringDamson IdrisandJavier Bardem,F1is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
