Brad Pitt stars in Apple’s original film F1. Image credit: Scott Garfield/Warner Bros/Apple Original Films
Apple’s latest theatrical release, F1, has been a roaring success with audiences — but will likely only just break even in its cinema run.
The company is enjoying its first summer blockbuster movie, with F1 surpassing $200M in box-office receipts since it opened on June 27. It could top $300 million by mid-July, meaning the film would only now start turning a profit.
Star Brad Pitt has seen the film give him his biggest opening weekend box office of his career. Warner Bros. Distribution Chief Jeff Goldstein believes the film will stay in theatres for a few more weeks, saying “there’s a lot of gas left in the tank” for it.
The film itself was estimated to have a budget of more than $200M, and distribution costs for the global release have topped $50M. F1, which was co-produced with Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment company and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, is expected to be the first Apple Original Film to turn a substantial profit.
Movie will head to on-demand ahead of Apple TV+ debut
“This has proved that [Apple] can do theatrical [releases],” an unnamed studio representative told the UK’s Financial Times. “With F1, they were looking for something very commercial.”
Following its theatrical run — which could continue into August — Apple plans to make the movie available for premium on-demand video services in an effort to gain additional revenue. It will then debut on Apple TV+ later this year.
Apple has been willing to invest money into its original films unit in an effort to raise its profile for quality productions, as well as to add prestige and viewers to its Apple TV+ service. F1 was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Joseph Kosinski, who also directed Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
In 2021, Apple’s first theatrical release CODA won the Best Picture Oscar for that year, and the company has since released a string of critically-acclaimed films. These have included director Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington, Todd Haynes’ documentary The Velvet Underground, and another Brad Pitt film — Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Killers was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, and won Best Film for 2023 from the National Board of Review. It also managed to secure a Screen Actor Guild Award and Golden Globe award for co-star Lily Gladstone.
However, like most other Apple Original Films, its theatrical run fell short of recouping its $215M cost.
A mixed track record
While theatrical-run box office receipts are not the best method to judge the quality of a movie, Apple was clearly aiming for a project that would generate both profits and worldwide media attention for its film division.
In 2023, Apple released an epic Ridley Scott production of Napoleon, while 2024’s big theatrical release for the company was the spy-action-comedy Argylle, starring Henry Cavill and Bryce Dallas Howard. Both films lost money in their theatrical runs, but made income from on-demand and home rental licensing.
That said, Apple’s success in so many of its other endeavors means that it can afford to take risks in its movie division. Napoleon, like Argylle, barely made back their production costs, resulting in notable losses overall.
Initially, Apple Original Films was looking for awards and other critical acclaim, but with F1, the company has a likely global blockbuster on their hands. It remains to be seen if Apple will pivot to more crowd-pleasing movies, or keep its current mix of critical and popular original productions.
For its part, Apple takes a holistic view of its overall film track record, insisting that due to the combination of theatrical-run income, foreign sales, Apple TV+ subscription attraction, and other outlets mean that its films are all ultimately profitable.
