After several widely reported blunders, it appears that Apple has finally achieved a genuine hit. A recent article from *Variety* indicates that Apple’s *F1* movie has now become its highest-grossing film ever. Since its launch late last month, the Brad Pitt film has amassed over $293 million in box office earnings. In simpler terms, it took *F1* just about 9 days to exceed the entire revenue recorded by other Apple theatrical releases, such as *Killers of the Flower Moon* and *Napoleon*. Indeed, *Napoleon* was so poor that I completely overlooked its existence until I discovered that its box office tally of $221 million was surpassed in a considerably shorter time frame.
At its current pace, *F1* will likely exceed $300 million in revenue shortly. To provide context, it’s beneficial to compare *F1* with last year’s two summer hits – *Barbie* and *Oppenheimer*. In its initial 10-day release period, *Barbie* garnered about $351 million. Conversely, Oppenheimer brought in about $175 million during its first 10 days. Thus, *F1* is not far behind *Barbie* and significantly outperforms *Oppenheimer*, which is particularly impressive considering Apple’s relative inexperience in the cinematic arena.
**Apple profits will still be meager**
Producing *F1* was an expensive undertaking, to say the least. Initially, analysts projected that production costs jumped into the $300 million range. That figure has since been revised down to $250 million after accounting for various credits.
To this point, *F1* producer Jerry Bruckheimer provided the following statement to *Deadline* last year:
> Unfortunately, it’s completely out of alignment by tens of millions in the wrong direction but in our favor. What many don’t realize is, first, we are filming in rebate [locations]; England offers substantial rebates, many parts of Europe do too, and so does Abu Dhabi. This all reduces the budget. Additionally, we’ve secured more funding for our car [via sponsorship] than some Formula 1 teams. When you factor all that in, it significantly lowers that number from what people might assume.
Bruckheimer further noted that he couldn’t reveal the specific production costs given Apple’s tendency towards secrecy. Even considering the aforementioned rebates, the film still has an estimated budget of around $250 million. Notably, this amount doesn’t even include marketing expenses, which are said to hover around $120 million.
**It’s not about the profits for Apple… at least not yet**
However, Apple executives are surely quite pleased. Apple would ideally seek profitability, but it’s not as if the company is struggling for funds. On the contrary, with *F1*, Apple would likely be content to break even and demonstrate that it can be a significant player in the cinematic landscape. Remember, Apple has poured a staggering amount of resources into creating content for its Apple TV+ platform. And even when some productions don’t yield significant returns, Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed multiple times that it’s not only about the money for Apple:
“We don’t strictly make financial decisions regarding content,” Cook stated during an earnings conference call in 2022. “We aim to discover remarkable content that serves a purpose, and we appreciate shows like *Ted Lasso* and other productions that have a reason for existence and may convey a positive message, making people feel better in the end.”
