Jerry Bruckheimer hails Brad Pitt as the perfect driver for 'F1'

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NEW YORK CITY — As the man who helped bring Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, the Bad Boys movies, Days of Thunder and the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks to the big screen, Hollywood super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer knows what makes a great summer movie.

There needs to be action, a little romance, a kick-ass soundtrack and big emotional stakes. Of course, the perfect leading man is another necessary ingredient.

So when he and his Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger were reuniting for a story set inside the world of Formula 1 racing, Bruckheimer says they had their eye on one guy to star: Brad Pitt.

“First of all, he’s handsome. He’s an Academy Award winner. He’s an amazing actor and he loves motor sports,” Bruckheimer, 81, tells Postmedia in an interview in a midtown Manhattan hotel. Pitt was also a logical choice, he adds, because “he drives motorcycles and he’s tried to get other racing movies made before.”

In theatres Friday, F1 casts Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a washed up racer who is given a second chance when he’s hired by his old friend (Javier Bardem) to mentor a hotshot rookie driver (Snowfall’s Damson Idris) on a last-place team.

Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Hayes is the antithesis of Pitt, who has been delighting audiences for more than three decades. But Bruckheimer says the actor has just the right type of charm to entertain moviegoers. And you don’t need to know a single thing about Formula 1.

“It’s not really about the racing. It’s about these characters in this world,” the producing giant says. “When you come into that third act, your heart is pounding. I promise you, no matter who you are … It’s a big experience on a IMAX screen. You’re going to be captivated for over two hours.”

Bruckheimer says that the world of Formula 1 is so drama-filled that it became the perfect jumping-off point for a comeback story that is, at its core, about redemption.

“It’s the only sport in the world where there are 10 teams, two drivers to a team and your teammate is your competitor,” he says. “So, you have this battle within your team to be the best driver. That’s a really exciting and dramatic arc for a story.

“But you don’t need to know anything about F1 or anything about racing to really enjoy this movie because it’s an emotional ride … It’s a Rocky story,” Bruckheimer continues. “It’s about a character who had an opportunity and blew it when he was young. Loved racing, raced all around the world, but never got invited back to F1. Now he gets invited back when he’s much older. So he has to work twice as hard and train twice as hard to be able to get into these cars and win.”

Made in collaboration with well-known names from the Formula 1 community, F1 boasts seven-time F1 champ Lewis Hamilton among its producers.

To add to the verisimilitude, Kosinski adopted the same filmmaking style he employed on Maverick with Pitt and Idris getting behind the wheel and driving the cars for real at speeds of up to 180-miles-per-hour on film.

“You’re in the seat with Brad and you’re having a blast with him,” Bruckheimer says.

Filming for F1 took place in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators at actual Formula 1 races like Silverstone — home of the British Grand Prix — and at the Hungaroring near Budapest; as well as the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium; Japan’s Suzuka track; the Vegas strip and Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.

Cameras would roll between practice and qualifying runs on Grand Prix weekends with the fictional APXGP squad becoming a fixture on the circuit. “We put you inside a world you would never be a part of,” Bruckheimer says.

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali and Ferrari driver Hamilton saw the potential for the film to boost global interest in the motorsport, Bruckheimer says.

“Myself, Brad and Joe went to London and met with Stefano. We said, ‘Here’s the movie we want to make. This is something that will be emotional, but it will tell the world, especially in America, how phenomenal your sport is.’ He said, ‘Great. How can we help you?’ He understood the value of it.”

Domenicali could see how Top Gun boosted interest in the U.S. Navy after it was released in 1986.

“When we did the first Top Gun, we wanted to shoot at (Naval Air Station) Miramar in San Diego, where the Top Gun base is,” Bruckheimer explains. “The admiral on the base said, ‘No way.’ Tom (Cruise), (director) Tony (Scott) and I went to see the Secretary of the Navy John Lehman and (he said yes). He knew what it would do for the Navy. Their recruiting went up 500% because of Top Gun.

“Stefano knew we were going to make a great movie that would be great for the sport,” the Oscar nominee says.

With F1 set to be the second stunt-heavy film hitting theatres this summer after the latest Mission: Impossible, Bruckheimer says Pitt had a big grin whenever he got behind the wheel on the track. It was two worlds coming together in the most authentic way possible.

“My happiest day was when we were in Abu Dhabi and Brad climbed out of the car for the last time he drove it,” Bruckheimer says grinning. “That was his unhappiest day because he loved driving so much.”

F1 opens in theatres Friday, June 27.

mdaniell@postmedia.com