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Following months of meetings, auditions and even several days of driving tests, Apple Studios, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer look to have found their race car driver to steer their highly anticipated racing film set in the world of F1. Sources tell deadline that Damson Idris has been tapped to co-star opposite Brad Pitt. Kosinski is directing.

Kosinski will produce his untitled feature alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films (Top Gun: Maverick), seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and Plan B, with Copper CEO Penni Thow serving as executive producer.

Producers have been meeting with respective prospects for the highly-sought after role going all the way back to November with Kosinski, Bruckheimer and Apple execs meeting with dozens of actors for the role. At the top of the year the lists were cut down but to a handful actors with Idris making the final cut. Besides doing a number of screen tests for the part, actors also had to show they had the goods to handle the intense driving scenes in the film and were put through a number of driving tests in January. Kosinski is big on using natural effects after going a similar route when he put his actors in real fighter jets for Top Gun: Maverick and hopes for the same with formula one race cars in this film.

The yet untitled feature follows Pitt playing a racer who comes out of retirement to mentor a younger driver and take his final stab at glory on the track as the younger driver’s teammate. Apple landed the highly-sought after package in one of 2022s biggest deals. At the time,. sources told Deadline that the package was in the $130 million-$140 million range, before above-the-line compensation. That puts it in line with several big package deals made last year, the kind that seem perfectly suited to streamers that need content but are still getting up to speed on the development front.

Idris broke on to the scene with his critically acclaimed role in the FX series Snowfall. The show’s final season just premiered at Idris had been looking for that next big role as his schedule opened up.

He was also recently seen in Amazon’s Swarm. He is repped by CAA, M88 and attorney John Meigs.

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EXCLUSIVE: Following her Oscar-nominated work in The Banshees Of Inisherin, Kerry Condon looks to have found her first big follow-up since her nomination she is set to join Brad Pitt in Apple Studios’ big-budget untitled F1 racing tentpole pic. Damson Idris is also on board with Joseph Kosinski set to direct.

Kosinski will produce his untitled feature alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films (Top Gun: Maverick), seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton through his Dawn Apollo banner and Plan B, with Copper CEO Penni Thow serving as executive producer.

The untitled feature follows Pitt as a racer who comes out of retirement to mentor a younger driver and take his final stab at glory on the track as the younger driver’s teammate. Condon is set to play the team’s Technical Director, overseeing the design and development of the sophisticated race car.

Apple landed the package in one of 2022s biggest deals. At the time, sources told Deadline the package was in the $130 million-$140 million range, before above-the-line compensation. That puts it in line with several big package deals made last year, the kind that seem perfectly suited to streamers that need content but are still getting up to speed on the development front.

This marks Apple Studios second feature with Pitt and Plan B Entertainment who are partnering, along with Academy Award-winner George Clooney’s Smokehouse, on the Jon Watts directed untitled film starring Pitt and Clooney.

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Brad Pitt has revealed some key plot details of his keenly anticipated Formula One racing feature.

Over the weekend, Pitt and co-star Damson Idris filmed for the Apple production during the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone in the U.K., driving laps around the legendary track.

Speaking to former British racing champion Martin Brundle, Pitt told Sky Sports: “It’s all been great. The vibe is amazing, to get to be part of it and tell our story. The teams have opened their doors to us.”

Pitt said that he plays “a guy who raced in the 1990s… who has a horrible crash, craps out and disappears, then he’s racing in other disciplines. His friend, played by Javier Bardem, he’s a team owner, contacts him. They’re a last place team, they’re 21-22 on the grid, they’ve never scored a point. But they have a young phenom, played by Damson Idris, and they bring me in as kind of a Hail Mary and hijinks ensue. Tell you what’s amazing about it — there are cameras mounted all over the car — you’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen just the G-forces like this. It’s really, really exciting.”

Pitt also offered Brundle a cameo in the film.

“It’s great to be here,” Pitt said of filming at Silverstone. “We’re just having such a laugh, time of my life.”

Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) directs and produces the Apple Studios feature alongside seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton under his Dawn Apollo Films banner, Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Plan B Entertainment. The film is made in collaboration with the whole F1 community – including Formula 1, the 10 teams and the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). The screenplay is by Oscar nominee Ehren Kruger (“Top Gun: Maverick”).

As revealed by Variety, “The Crown” star Tobias Menzies also has a pivotal role in the film.

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They’re a last place team

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