Does this headline sound familiar? Yes, it is! Top Producer Jerry Bruckheimer reveals some cool stuff about the upcoming Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt. Think of it like Top Gun: Maverick in the ground. The TGM team implemented the same techniques to shoot Formula 1 races. But now they utilize four bespoke 6K cinema cameras with PTZ capabilities inside the race car cockpit.
You’ll see the cameras mounted all over the car. You’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen the G-forces like this. It’s really amazing. As a civilian, I had no idea what it takes to be a driver. The aggression and dexterity, I have so much respect for it. This should be as authentic as we can get it.
Apex Actor – Brad Pitt
TGM but in the ground
The new Formula 1 movie, starring Brad Pitt, is all about super epic high-octane extreme Formula 1 racing. The rumored name is Apex but it has not been confirmed yet. We wrote many articles about it focusing on the tiny unknown camera spotted in various spots on the Formula 1 cars. These techniques looked familiar, and indeed, after investigations, it appears that the makers are from the TGM(Top Gun: Maverick) movie. The TGM team is in charge in full swing (Director Joseph Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda). Basically, this movie is going to be like TGM but on the ground. And for this, a dedicated Sony action camera-cam was developed.
Cinema PTZ 6K tiny camera
As for now, we know a bit of detail about the camera. First, as opposed to the Sony VENICE Rialto units installed inside the jet-fighter cockpit in TGM, the ‘Apex camera’ (let’s call it Apex camera by the rumored name of the Formula 1 movie), has PTZ capabilities. Hence, it’s not static, but it can be moved and controlled remotely. That grants solid advantages since you can shoot in multiple angles at the speed of 200mph of the Formula 1. We’d say it’s a bespoke design made especially of Apex, and that design is based on the FR7 but with a much more compact form factor (stripped down) and elevated resolution (6K instead of 4K). Here’s what Bruckheimer said to Collider: “The cameras on F1, we put six cameras in the cockpit -[in TGM]. And they were about this big, now they’re this big, and they couldn’t move, they were stationary. Now he’s got them panning. So you can be on Brad’s face and pan to the car next to him. It’s unbelievable what he’s doing, and he’s got 14 different camera positions on the car. We use four at a time because we don’t want to slow the cars down”. Thus, every car holds 4 of these cameras.
For the cameras on F1, we put six cameras in the cockpit -[in TGM]. And they were about this big, now they’re this big, and they couldn’t move, they were stationary. Now he’s got them panning. So you can be on Brad’s face and pan to the car next to him. It’s unbelievable what he’s doing, and he’s got 14 different camera positions on the car. We use four at a time because we don’t want to slow the cars down.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer
Most anticipated film of 2025
‘Apex’ is set to debut in theaters in IMAX on June 27, 2025 “Last year we were following all the races without the actors, shooting all the car footage and the driving footage. Now we’re putting our actors in the car and doing the dramatic stuff, and we go back to all the different places and film again. So it’s really exciting” Bruckheimer elaborated. Furthermore, rumors indicate that the film has, at the moment, a mammoth $300 million budget. Remember that a whole F2 car was designed specially for this film. Interestingly, the IMAX CEO didn’t elaborate much on Apex, and the fog around it is still massive. However, this is what Brad Pitt said about Apex: “You’ll see the cameras mounted all over the car. You’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen the G-forces like this. It’s really amazing. As a civilian, I had no idea what it takes to be a driver. The aggression and dexterity, I have so much respect for it. This should be as authentic as we can get it”. So there you go. A TGM on steroids!
