Lewis Hamilton has offered his reaction after the ‘F1’ movie was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture. Hamilton was one of the producers on the Apple project.
F1 was one of 10 films shortlisted for the most prestigious prize in cinema, alongside Timothee Chalamet’s ‘Marty Supreme’, Michael B. Jordan’s ‘Sinners’, Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘One Battle After Another’ and more.
The film, which stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a driver for the fictional APX GP team, more than doubled its money at the global box office. From a budget of $200m-$300m (£148m-£222m), it made $631m (£466m).
It earned an 82% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 68 out of 100 on Metacritic.
Lewis Hamilton says Best Picture nod for ‘F1’ is ‘surreal’
Hamilton’s production company, Dawn Apollo Films, worked with Apple on the movie. The seven-time world champion was also a consultant, aiming to ensure authenticity.
Writing on his Instagram story, Hamilton said the finished product was ‘special’ and the nominations were ‘so so deserved’.
F1 is also a contender for Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. The ceremony takes place on 15 March, shortly after the new season begins.
“This is so incredibly surreal,” Hamilton wrote. “It’s a tremendous honour to see the F1 movie nominated by the Academy, especially alongside such talented artist [sic] and storytellers.
“When we were making this movie, we knew we had something special, real and authentic on our hands and it’s amazing to see everyone’s hard work and dedication recognised.
“Major shout to everyone who worked on this, so, so deserved.”
Will there be a sequel to the F1 movie?
Hamilton was asked back in July whether there were any plans to make a sequel given the film’s success.
“I think the worst thing we probably could do is to rush into doing a sequel,” he said, via ESPN. “Most sequels are way worse, and so we don’t need to rush it.
“I think if we do do a sequel, I would say let’s really, really take our time in getting it even better.”
Lead producer Jerry Bruckheimer subsequently told Forbes in October that he had held initial conversations with Hamilton about ideas for a second instalment.
Pitt turned 62 at the end of last year, so it’s unclear whether he would still be a driver in the proposed sequel, should he agree to take part. There could be a greater focus on co-star Damson Idris, who played his APX teammate Joshua Pearce.
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