Brad Pitt is determined to rescue his upcoming F1 movie, despite major problems and costly delays with filming thus far. The A-list actor’s next step is to hunt a leading lady to perform the soundtrack, with big names such as Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey at the top of his wish list.
“Brad and the F1 team are not being shy about hunting for a pop song to accompany the release of F1,” a source exclusively tells In Touch, and with good reason, considering the state of production on the project.
The Joseph Kosinski-directed project is in need of some PR wins of late. Though it’s set to release in June 2025 – a date that has already been pushed back an entire year – all fans have seen thus far is a short teaser of the thriller, a fictionalized drama surrounding the highest class of international auto racing, Formula 1.
The SAG-AFTRA strikes caused significant delays in production, in addition to ballooning production costs which were rumored to exceed $300 million – making it one of the most expensive films ever made – though producer Jerry Bruckheimer has denied the hefty price tag. The Hollywood bigwig, who has his fingerprints on the Top Gun franchise and Days of Thunder, actually told Deadline that the on-car sponsorships, including Expensify, the Lewis Hamilton-linked Tommy Hilfiger, IWC and others, are helping offset the cost, saying “We’ve raised more money for our [filming] car than some Formula 1 teams.”
Kosinski and Bruckheimer also partnered up for the most recent Top Gun iteration, which the source says, “Just like Top Gun: Maverick, they’re targeting pop divas in order to help court the female demographic to this testosterone-drenched project,” as there are already high box office expectations for the film.
“Brad has taken the lead on this process because he sees himself as a pretty serious music aficionado and more importantly, he can personally call the most famous pop singers on earth and they will pick up the phone,” the insider continues.
“While Brad has a friendship with Lady Gaga, the fact that she already did this job on Maverick and is kind of damaged goods right now after the Joker sequel rules her out. But everybody else is getting a fair shot from Brad to audition their best new songwriting for the F1 soundtrack.”
“Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry and more are on Brad’s list, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.”
The Troy actor is still reeling after his last movie, Wolfs, with best friend George Clooney, went straight to streaming after being abruptly pulled from theaters, a decision that a different source previously told Life & Style left the two Hollywood hunks with “egg on their faces.”
With the upcoming F1 setting expectations high once again, the first source agrees that Brad has little tolerance for a commercial failure, making his choice of which pop star to attach to the project all the more important.
“This is an expensive movie that Apple has paid for and which is going to as many theaters as possible. Brad needs his female audience to show up in droves, and to do that, he needs help!”