Imagine a world where Hollywood legends Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt reunited on screen for the first time since the 1990s. This massive cinematic event almost happened in the high octane world of professional racing. Director Joseph Kosinski recently shared a fascinating story that has movie buffs buzzing. He revealed that he was incredibly close to filming a version of Ford v Ferrari with these two titans.
The project was originally titled Go Like Hell. It was based on the same source material that eventually became the Oscar winning film directed by James Mangold. Kosinski opened up about this lost blockbuster in a recent interview. He detailed a surreal afternoon where he watched Cruise and Pitt read the script together. This story offers a rare glimpse into the delicate business of making movies in Hollywood.
The Surreal Table Read With Two Hollywood Icons
Joseph Kosinski has built a reputation for high speed action. He directed Top Gun: Maverick and the upcoming F1 movie. But long before those hits, he was working on an adaptation of A.J. Baime’s book Go Like Hell. This book chronicles the battle between Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans in the 1960s. Kosinski had a vision for this film that included the biggest stars on the planet.
He recently told Deadline about the moment the project seemed most real. He managed to get Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the same room. The location was Tom Cruise’s house. Kosinski described the experience of watching these two A-listers read the script as “surreal.”
This meeting marked a significant moment in cinema history that never came to be.
Fans remember that Cruise and Pitt last worked together in 1994 on Interview with the Vampire. Their dynamic in that film was electric. Seeing them reunite as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles would have been a massive draw for audiences. Kosinski noted that Pitt was his first choice for the role. Pitt was interested in the racing world even back then. This shared interest planted the seeds for their future collaboration.
Joseph Kosinski F1 movie Brad Pitt Tom Cruise racing script
Why The Studio Scrapped The High Budget Project
You might wonder why a movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt did not get made. The answer comes down to cold hard math. Kosinski explained that the economics of the film industry were different in 2013 and 2015. Getting two stars of that magnitude commands a massive salary. This is known in the industry as “above the line” costs.
The budget for the film ballooned quickly. The studio could not justify the expense based on the market at the time.
“At that time in that market, we couldn’t make it happen,” Kosinski admitted.
There was another major hurdle standing in the way. Studios in that era believed that racing movies were box office poison. They were seen as niche films that did not appeal to a general global audience.
Here is a look at the factors that killed the project:
- Star Salaries: Cruise and Pitt command upfront fees that would take up a huge portion of the budget.
- Genre Stigma: Executives believed car racing movies could not make money overseas.
- Production Costs: Shooting practical racing scenes with period accurate cars is incredibly expensive.
The rights to the story eventually moved on. James Mangold took over the project. He cast Matt Damon and Christian Bale. That version became Ford v Ferrari. It was a critical and commercial success that proved the studios wrong about the genre.
How The Failure Paved The Way For Top Gun Maverick
The death of Go Like Hell was not a total loss for Joseph Kosinski. The director used the preparation time to develop new filming techniques. He wanted to put the audience inside the cockpit of the race cars. He planned to mount cameras on the actors and the vehicles in ways that had never been done before.
He could not use these tricks for the racing movie at that time. However, he kept them in his back pocket.
The technology developed for this failed project became the foundation for Top Gun: Maverick.
When Kosinski eventually teamed up with Tom Cruise for the Top Gun sequel, they used those exact methods. They placed IMAX cameras inside the cockpits of fighter jets. This created the visceral and realistic experience that made Maverick a billion dollar hit. The DNA of the lost racing movie lives on in the aerial stunts that audiences loved.
Kosinski turned a career disappointment into a massive technological breakthrough. He proved that practical effects and placing the audience in the driver’s seat was a winning formula.
Brad Pitt Finally Gets Behind The Wheel In New Film
The story has come full circle for Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt. They are finally working together on a racing project. The film is titled F1 and is set to release in the summer of 2025. It promises to be the most realistic racing film ever made.
Kosinski carried the skepticism from 2015 with him. He remembered the executives who said racing movies do not work.
“God damn it, I’m gonna prove those guys wrong,” he told Deadline.
This new film takes the technology from Top Gun: Maverick to the race track. Brad Pitt plays a veteran driver returning to Formula 1. The production has gained attention for filming during actual Grand Prix weekends.
Key features of the upcoming F1 movie include:
- Real Driving: Brad Pitt and the cast drove modified Formula 2 cars on real tracks.
- Live Events: Filming took place during live F1 race weekends in front of real crowds.
- High Tech Cameras: The team used the smallest heavy duty 6k cameras ever designed to fit inside the tight cockpits.
The lost version of Ford v Ferrari remains a fascinating “what if” scenario. Yet it led to arguably better outcomes. We got James Mangold’s excellent film in 2019. We got the cinematic marvel that was Top Gun: Maverick. And now we are getting a cutting edge F1 movie. The meeting at Tom Cruise’s house in 2013 was not a dead end. It was just the starting line for a decade of innovation.
It is rare to get a peek behind the curtain of Hollywood’s development process. This story reminds us that even the biggest stars face rejection. It also shows that good ideas rarely die. They just change shape and find the right time to cross the finish line.
The film industry is all about timing. While we missed out on a Cruise and Pitt reunion, the trade off seems to have been worth it. Racing fans and movie lovers have plenty to be excited about as F1 approaches its release.
