What if the upcoming “F1” movie starred Tom Cruise in the lead role instead of Brad Pitt? It’s a question recently posed by GQ magazine to director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who started developing the Pitt-starring racing movie while they were in post-production on Cruise’s $1.4 billion-grossing blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“Tom always pushes it to the limit, but at the same time is super capable and very skilled,” Kosinski answered. “They both have the natural talent for driving. But yeah, I could see Tom maybe scaring us a little bit more.”
Kosinski recruited several crew members to make the jump with him and Bruckheimer from “Top Gun: Maverick” to “F1,” many of whom were well accustomed to working with Cruise on various “Mission: Impossible” movies. Graham Kelly, an action-vehicle supervisor, agreed with Kosinski’s casting assessment.
“We’d have had a crash,” Kelly quipped about Cruise starring in “F1” over Pitt. “Tom pushes it to the limit. I mean really to the limit. That terrifies me. I mean, I’ve done loads of ‘Mission: Impossibles’ with Tom and it’s the most stressful experience for someone like me building cars for him, doing stunts with him. Whereas Brad listens and he knows his abilities, and I think he’d be the first to say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that.’”
“F1” marks something of a full circle moment for Kosinski. Before “Top Gun: Maverick,” the director was actually developing his own version of “Ford v Ferrari” with Cruise and Pitt attached to star. Both actors wanted to do their own driving in the movie, but the budget Kosinski proposed to the studio was too high for the project to move forward. James Mangold ended up directing “Ford v Ferrari” with Christian Bale and Matt Damon.
Cruise is currently in theaters with “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” which debuted o $200 million globally to set a new box office opening record for the actor’s 29-year-old franchise. Pitt’s “F1” is set to open in theaters June 27.
