Apple high octane racing film F1: The movie He roared up to the United States and Canada’s box office this weekend, fed by Star-Power and a finely tuned marketing campaign, according to Comscore.
The film, starring Brad Pitt as a Formula 1 corridor that returns to the track after an accident almost ends his career, brought $ 55.6 million for sale of tickets in the two countries. This count exceeded $ 45 million to $ 55 million national forecasts prior to the Boxoftic company week.
World receipts exceeded $ 88 million, driven by the strong base of sports fans in Europe and Latin America.
Racing films generally collide in theaters, according to Daniel Loria, Senior Vice President of Boxoffice Company, a theatrical firm of electronic commerce services and data services. The most successful of the genre, the widely acclaimed Ford V FerrariHe opened a modest $ 31 million in November 2019.
“We have not had so many films about the car races that have broken,” said Loria.
A notable atypical is the Fast and furious Action series that expanded beyond its roots in street races to include robberies, espionage and an unlikely moon taking.
F1 He had several factors in his favor, helping to expand his appeal beyond racing enthusiasts.
The film director, Joseph Kosinski, brought the same high intensity cinematographic treatment of formula 1 races that lent the combat aircraft sequences in his 2022 film, Top Gun: Maverick. The spectators who were surveyed by Cinemascore gave F1 A qualification A, pointing out its approval.
Netflix’s Formula 1: drive to survive The series helped feed the popularity of Formula 1 races, particularly in the United States
Apple also put Marketing Muscle behind his film, a production of original Apple films that Variety reported that it cost more than $ 200 million.
The technological giant promoted F1 During the CEO Tim Cook opening speech at the World Developer Conference this year, and offered a movie discount to iPhone users. Apple Music also amplified the soundtrack of the film.
Warner Bros, who marketed and distributed the film, developed a campaign as he emphasized the participation of the world champion of Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton in Europe and Latin America, while focused on Pitt in the United States.
“It is very similar to a perfectly coordinated boxes team in a race,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst in Comscore, an information and analysis company. “They shot this from the exit line with great success.”
F1 It represents the largest opening weekend for Apple, whose previous cinematographic efforts, such as the “Killers of the Flower Moon by director Martin Scorsese, obtained critical acclamations but achieved modest results in the box office.
“The outstanding debut of the film reflects both the emotion of Formula 1 and the deeply emotional and entertaining story created by the entire cast and creative team,” said Zack Van Amburg, Apple World Video Chief in a statement.
