Despite the Hollywood strike: a Formula 1 movie is still being shot

Despite the Hollywood strike of actors and writers, the shooting of Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 film at the Budapest Grand Prix continues. “Fortunately we can continue. Hopefully we’ll get some key parts of the film done here,” said record world champion Lewis Hamilton, co-producer and consultant on the project.

For the eleventh round of the season at the Hungaroring on Sunday, just like last time at Silverstone, a separate garage was set up for the fictional Apex racing team around superstar Pitt. Actors in the team’s racing suits already walked through the paddock on Thursday. Race scenes and other footage for the film are expected to be shot at the track.

How much the original shooting plans should be curtailed by the strike and whether Pitt himself would travel to Budapest was initially left open. After the screenwriters, all union actors of the more than 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA recently went on strike. The strike is about better pay and regulation for the use of artificial intelligence. Pitt is also a member of the actors’ union.

When he was still at Silverstone, he had enthusiastically thrown himself into filming the Formula 1 strip. The 59-year-old plays a racing driver who leaves Formula 1 after an accident and returns years later because the boss of a failed team asks him for help. Director is Joseph Kosinski, producer is Jerry Bruckheimer. Both also shot the mega hit “Top Gun: Maverick” together.

Mercedes driver Hamilton was very impressed with the interim result of the Formula 1 project. “I have now seen some scenes that have increased my expectation of the end result,” said the 38-year-old Briton.

(yam/sda/dpa)