I don't know how I feel about Hollywood's motorsport fascination
Please don't flood the space with garbage, my lil race car heart can't take it
In 2025, Brad Pitt's new film, very creatively titled F1, will hit theaters and almost inevitably do psychic damage to me, specifically, by not being the most accurate racing movie known to man. But Pitt's film isn't the only racing film (or TV show) in the works — there are plenty of big race car stories being pitched wherever you look, and it's clear that Hollywood is cashing in. Let's talk about it.
First up, let's start with a running list of the big motorsport films that may very well hit screens in the future:
F1, starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up racer getting a second shot at F1 by mentoring a young star
American Speed, a film about the drug-smuggling Whittington Brothers, starring Tom Holland and Austin Butler
Downforce, a Hulu series produced by Daniel Ricciardo
Some kind of workplace comedy based on Guenther Steiner
Felicity Jones is set to star in a show roughly based on Claire Williams’ life
An AppleTV+ documentary about Lewis Hamilton that low-key has not materialized despite being in the works for a formidable lifeage.
We've also had recent releases of Ferrari, a new Senna series, a Brawn documentary, Race for Glory, etc etc etc.
I won’t claim that I am ultra-familiar with the nuance of TV/film production, or with how those kinds of deals are made. For that, I'll turn you over to Lily Herman of Engine Failure, whose thoughtful critiques on these subjects have taught me a lot about the wild world of celebrity culture.
Instead, I want to talk about something that I think is slightly more compelling — i.e., why it feels like such a big deal that we're suddenly getting a ton of high-quality racing films and shows, as a person who is far more embedded in motorsport history than in the pop cultural zeitgeist, and why that freaks me out.
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