Set to be released in mid-2025, the movie entitled simply F1 will star Brad Pitt and is being director by Joseph Kosinski, the man behind Top Gun: Maverick.
It marks the first contemporary F1 film since the 1960s with the production embedded within the sport for more than two years.
That has included a presence in pit lane, on the grid at some events, and on-track filming using a modified Formula 2 car to resemble a current F1-spec machine.
Pitt and co-star Damson Idris have also had time behind the wheel while cameras have been fitted to real-world cars for use in the movie to supplement their performances.
“I wanted to make the most authentic Formula 1 move, or racing move, ever made,” said Bruckheimer, who was also behind Days of Thunder.
“The most important thing is the emotion,” he added of the story itself. ”
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“We have a really terrific script. It was written by the same writer, Ehren Kruger, who wrote Top Gun.
“It’s got emotion. It’s moving.
“It’s about a driver who was a phenomenal kid when he came into F1, had a terrible accident and never was invited back until a friend of his, who’s played by Javier Bardem, comes to him – and now owns a team, who’s about to lose his team unless he wins runs one race – comes to Brad and said, ‘I have a phenomenal young driver, but I need somebody who can settle him down and drive with him’.
“It’s Brad’s chance for coming back to the track and showing people what he could do at F1.
“So it’s about that emotion of a guy trying to make it after he failed once.”
Hamilton has been deeply involved in the project, advising on script and other elements.
That has seen him described his role as calling out unrealistic elements of the production.
“I felt my job really has been to try to call BS,” the seven-time world champion told GQ.
“‘This would never happen’, ‘This is how it would be’, ‘This is how it could happen.’
“Just giving them advice about what racing is really about and what, as a racing fan, would appeal and what would not.”
It’s a role Bruckheimer has valued, suggesting the 39-year-old has picked up details most would miss as he attempts to walk the tightrope between an engaging story and the real world of F1.
“He saw part of the movie yesterday, and he gave us a critique of how the driers actually do various things,” Bruckheimer explained of Hamilton’s involvement.
“The level of specifics that he gave us, like in Silverstone in Turn 3, you’re in second gear, and he could hear with his ear we were in third gear.
“It’s that kind of thing that he’s bringing to the movie.
“And also he said, ‘You know, Brad, it’s a little too easy for him’, so we’re going to make it a little harder.
“He said when he finishes a race, especially like Singapore where it’s very hot, these guys can barely get out of the car, they’re so exhausted, lose 10 pounds, and he said that he just has to lay down for five minutes before he can get up and do the press interviews that he has to do.
“And it’s not only him, it’s all of them. They’re just completely exhausted.
“We’re going to show what it takes to be an F1 driver.
“Everything that he has brought to this move, I can’t even express our thanks to him and all the folks from F1 who made this all possible,” Bruckheimer added.
“But the authenticity that [Hamilton] brings, and we just can’t imagine what goes into what a driver does, what the sport brings to an audience, and he gives it to us.
“Sometimes we don’t like to hear some of the things he says, because it costs us more money to fix things, but we’re all in.
“We want to make it great, and he’s certainly helping us.”
The movie received early criticism following the release of a trailer in July.
While offering little insight into the story itself, the dialogue between Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes and Kate, played by Kerry Condon, raised eyebrows.
“Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, now McLaren, all have us beat on the straights,” Pitt says.
“Our shot is battling in the turns. We need to build our car for combat.”
Ahead of the movie’s global release next year, a viewing party for the drivers is scheduled for the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
It’s then expected the movie will premiere in London and New York, before moving onto streaming platforms following its theatrical run.
“When a movie gets released in theatres, [it] does much better on streaming, because the audiences understand that it’s really special if it goes to theatres,” Bruckheimer explained.
“That’s what we’re going to have.
“The impact we’re going to have worldwide with this film, because there’s so many fans around the world – the only market that has not found F1 as much is United States, and I think [the movie is] going to expand it, because Brad’s reach is enormous.
“He’s got so many female fans, so that’s going to bring the female audience in. We’re going to get the guys, because they love racing, and we’ll get them.
“It’s going to be a great date night, and that’s what we want.”
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