There’s A New Highest-Grossing Live-Action Sports Movie of All-Time originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Along with the concept of creating original films that aren’t sequels or prequels to a previous box-office hit, the era of timeless sports films seemed to have come to an end.
However, with a chance to make a splash in the entertainment and sports world, Apple partnered with Formula One to produce a film starring two-time Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt and rising star Damson Idris.
Although there was skepticism regarding how well “F1 The Movie,” with a reported budget of $200-$300 million, would fare, given that it is centered around a sport still growing in popularity in the States, the results speak for themselves.
As shared on X by Front Office Sports on Wednesday, the movie has become the highest-grossing live-action sports movie ever.
“F1 The Movie” has crossed $460 million at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing live-action sports movie ever,” read the post.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli (12) races during the F1 Montreal Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
“F1 The Movie,” which features not only superstars of the sport like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, among others, was filmed during nine Grand Prix weekends. It centers on Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, a former driver who is called upon by an old friend to help save his F1 team, APXGP, from being sold.
It is then that Pitt’s character begins to help the team, but clashes with young-gun teammate Joshua Pearce (Idris). The two are eventually forced to work together, with a chance to secure a massive victory in Abu Dhabi after both overcoming major adversity.
Aside from the film being about the growing sport, Pitt and co-star Damson Idris were the ones actually driving the cars. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed to Today’s Becca Wood that they trained for three months.
“Damson Idris, who’s a rising young star, had to drive in these cars and train for three months, just like Brad (Pitt) did,” Bruckheimer told Today.com. “But the brutality of what you go through in these cars that are going 180 miles an hour — they have to break down to 50. They’re taking 5 Gs in the corners. It is brutal.”
Highest-grossing sports movie of all time
In terms of where this film ranks among all-time sports movies, whether live-action or animated, it trails only Pixar’s “Cars 2,” which, according to FOS, grossed $559.9 million worldwide.
Will there be a sequel to “F1?”
At this time, there has been no confirmation on whether or not they will create a follow-up film, but many have interpreted the ending to be setting up for another possible story.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.