The wheel world 🏎️
Brad Pitt and I don't have a ton in common – we both like "Mindhunter"! – but there is one key difference: I am not a fast driver, and he likes to put the pedal to the metal.
The A-lister embraces his inner Ricky Bobby and drives real fast in the new racing thriller "F1: The Movie," which taps into the extreme love for Formula 1 these days around the world. That's something you should get to the movie theaters and check out – if you have a 4DX theater near you, go for that! In addition, there's a new Spielberg film out now (from Destry Allyn, not her famous papa Steven), plus the latest Marvel TV series is streaming, with Dominique Thorne reprising her "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" role in "Ironheart."
Now on to the good stuff:
See Brad Pitt hit the gas in race car extravaganza 'F1: The Movie'
Brad Pitt has been on a nice run of guy's guy roles, and like a really good parallel-parking maneuver, he fits in the driver's seat of "F1." He plays a hired gun recruited by an old friend (Javier Bardem) to help save his Formula 1 race team, proves to be a speed demon on the track and also has to deal with a hotshot rookie (Damson Idris). It's what you want from a "Top Gun" on wheels. (Peep my ★★★ review.)
Our resident car guy, Marco della Cava, interviewed Pitt, and the actor looked back fondly on the four months he spent learning to drive real F1 cars up to 180 mph. 'It was just such a high that I've never experienced before,' Pitt says. 'I can put myself back in that car on certain tracks and I'm instantly happy.' Marco also did a piece about why people are obsessed with F1 as well as a primer on what you need to know about the motorsport.
Catch Destry Allyn Spielberg's directorial debut 'Please Don't Feed the Children'
Last week was all about Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" turning 50, and this week it's his 28-year-old daughter unleashing some scares. Destry Allyn Spielberg's directorial debut, "Please Don't Feed the Children" (streaming now on Tubi), imagines a bleak America where a pandemic affects adults instead of kids, and a group of teens on the run is taken in by a woman (Michelle Dockery) more sinister than sweet. I talked with Spielberg about growing up with a legendary dad and her lifelong obsession with "The Shining." (She wanted to watch it when she was 8, but Dad said no.) "It was the first film that really got me intrigued with just the history of cinema and specific directors," Spielberg says.
Her new movie is one of several new streaming flicks to watch this week. I rounded a bunch up for our weekly guide, which also includes the great new documentary "My Mom Jayne" and "The Woman in the Yard."
Stream Marvel's 'Ironheart' starring Dominique Thorne
In the Disney+ show "Ironheart," Dominique Thorne plays one of Marvel's newest heroes, Riri Williams, a young genius in the Tony Stark mold who's designed her own flying armor suit. Thorne stopped by our New York City studio to chat with my bud Ralphie Aversa about what Riri has to deal with this season, from villainous frenemy The Hood (Anthony Ramos) to her own personal issues. "It's very difficult to go out and rescue a world when you yourself have your own battles that you haven't yet fought," Thorne says. (Also check out a video Ralphie did with Thorne explaining a nagging injury she suffered during a fight scene.)
TV critic Kelly Lawler doesn't love the latest Marvel show, writing in her ★★ review that it's "full of feeling but starkly lacking in coherence and intrigue." She's not wrong, and it's a weird continuation of both the "Iron Man" movies and, of all things, "Doctor Strange." (Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer would have been the perfect foe for Riri, just sayin'.)
Even more goodness to check out!
Got thoughts, questions, ideas, concerns, compliments or maybe even some recs for me? Email btruitt@usatoday.com and follow me on the socials: I'm @briantruitt on Bluesky, Instagram and Threads.
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Business Insider
38 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Apple really, really wants you to go see its 'F1' movie
An iPhone notification. A surprise Brad Pitt appearance at an Apple store. A fancy trailer that makes your iPhone rumble. Apple is going all out for its big-budget "F1" movie. If you own an iPhone or visited one of the company's retail stores recently, you've likely noticed the promotional push as the Apple synergy machine kicked into gear. Apple has pulled many of its levers across various channels to drum up excitement for its latest original film, "F1: The Movie," which arrived in theaters Friday. It's a marketing flex that few companies aside from Apple are capable of, since they don't have the massive built-in install base of the iPhone. Apple's strategy of continuing to make big-budget movies has some, including Business Insider's Peter Kafka, scratching their heads. The tech giant's marketing push around "F1," though, makes sense — Apple's got skin in the game for this movie. Not all of Apple's marketing tactics have gone smoothly, though. On Tuesday, some iPhone users took to social media to complain about a notification on their home screen that turned out to be an ad sent from the Wallet app tied to the movie. The promo offered $10 off two tickets to see "F1" when you purchase from Fandango using Apple Pay. Sure, you could easily dismiss the notification and move on with your day, but some compared it to Apple's free U2 album that it added to iPhone users' libraries. There have also been some pretty creative marketing efforts. If you have an iPhone, you can watch a special version of the "F1" trailer in the AppleTV app that activates the phone's haptic engines (basically fancy vibrations), so that your device rumbles along with the vehicles' engines. (You'll also be encouraged to buy tickets when you open the app.) Experience the new @F1Movie trailer on iPhone in a way only Apple can deliver. — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 11, 2025 And for even more immersion, Apple's Maps app allows you to virtually check out the famous tracks where "F1" was filmed. Then there was Apple's big annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which took place in the weeks leading up to the movie's release. Its Formula 1-themed intro featured Apple exec Craig Federighi driving laps on top of Apple's "spaceship" HQ. At one point, Tim Cook looks right at the camera and says, "Yes, F1, baby." In May, actor Damson Idris, who stars in the movie alongside Brad Pitt, walked the carpet of the Met Gala in an F1 driver's uniform and helmet before unveiling a suit underneath. He held on to his helmet as an accessory. Exactly how much Apple invested to make "F1" a reality isn't clear. Initial reports said that the movie cost around $300 million to make (not counting its marketing budget). However, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joseph Kosinski said that wasn't the case in an interview with Deadline last year. In reality, Bruckheimer said, the estimate was "tens of millions of dollars out of whack." "We can't give you a number because that's Apple's money and they can talk about it," Bruckheimer said. "But what I think you can say is it's quite a bit lower than what's been reported." Apple did not immediately respond to a Business Insider's request for comment on the budget. Some of Apple's investments in movies have proven success in the past. AppleTV+ made a name for itself in the film industry with "CODA," a 2021 coming-of-age movie that went on to win Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards, making it the first film released by a streamer to win the top award at the Oscars. On June 15, people attending a panel discussion for another AppleTV+ offering, "Severance," were surprised when Brad Pitt came out to promote "F1." Tim Cook was there too, and he made sure to mention that the movie included footage filmed using the same camera technology you can buy in the latest iPhones.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
‘F1': Brad Pitt's New Blockbuster Comes With A Killer Soundtrack
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Judging by the ambitious, cross-genre soundtrack — which is packed with original tunes from superstars like Doja Cat, Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Tate McRae and Rosé — the odds look good. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer – who knows a thing or two about placing a smash song into a film – and directed by Kosinski, F1 was always envisioned as a global spectacle. It wasn't until production began on real racetracks across the world that Kosinski realized how important a role music would play in the film. 'That came from going to a bunch of races and seeing how much there is kind of soundtrack to them,' he explained during a recent conversation about F1. 'There's almost like a festival — [there's]That global spirit is more than a marketing slogan. For Atlantic Records, the label behind the Barbie and Twisters soundtracks, the goal was to create an album that could stand on its own, while also feeling organically tied to the film, as the projects connected to those two previous blockbusters became. Kevin Weaver, Atlantic's President, said he and David Taylor, Head of Music, Apple TV+ & Original Films, were deliberate from the outset. 'F1 is a massive global brand,' Weaver shared. 'We really were deliberate in trying to A&R and aggregate new music that felt very global and very broad and hit multiple genres.' Taylor echoed that focus on worldwide authenticity, saying, 'The teams are a huge part of the community and culture of F1, and music is a universal language… We let the movie help guide us with how to…find artists and music that feels representative.' It's a strategy that sounds and feels like it will pay off. F1 features 15 original songs in the film and 17 on the official soundtrack, and the bevy of tunes includes pop, rap, Latin, Afrobeat, and electronic influences. That cross-genre approach to curating the album mirrors the vibe of Formula 1 itself. 'Similar to that of the drivers — if you look at them, they're from all different countries, they all have their music tastes,' Taylor noted. The film's most high-profile musical moment comes in the form of 'Lose My Mind,' an anthem crafted from a collaboration between Hans Zimmer, Doja Cat, Don Toliver, and producer Ryan Tedder. The song started as a cinematic theme Zimmer composed, the kind that carries a melody tailor-made not just for an action-packed summer flick, but also a top-notch pop song. 'Hans had a rough of the F1 movie theme,' Weaver recalled. 'We had set out to see if there was a path to accomplish taking that, interpolating it, flipping it, and turning it into a modern kind of pop-type anthem record.' 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Yahoo
an hour ago
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Like it or not, Jake Paul is the ultimate American success story
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