Filming of the upcoming Formula 1-based movie directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt is expected to continue in the United States.
The unnamed project, which counts seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton as a producer, had its filming incorporated into multiple F1 race weekends in 2023, including November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, and is set to make at least one more U.S. stop this year.
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RACER understands the production will make use of Daytona International Speedway in the coming weeks as part of IMSA’s Roar Before The 24 test that runs from January 19-21, and carry over the following week as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship launches its season with the Jan. 25-28 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Like the F1 events, where the film’s open-wheel cars in special movie-related liveries have taken to the track, the same process is anticipated with a WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona entry. But in a change from the special on-track sessions at F1 events, it’s believed the IMSA filming will be done during official sessions that will be captured as part of Pitt’s Driven-esque arc that features an ageing driver who is brought back to help a struggling newcomer.
It’s unclear whether Pitt’s GTD car will be an extra, one-off addition arranged by the filmmakers to compete at the Roar and the Rolex 24, or if the movie’s producers have engaged with a full-season GTD team that has agreed to carry the character’s name and whatever movie-specific livery called for in the script at Daytona before reverting back to its standard colors for the following round at Sebring.
The rumored Daytona filming would mark the second time in recent years that IMSA and its GT category has been featured in a major studio film.
Written by Garth Stein and directed by Simon Curtis, 2019’s The Art Of Racing In The Rain focused on a driver who held ambitions of reaching F1 and raced at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, among other venues, which relied on Turner Motorsport’s BMW GT machinery during the 2018 season to serve the character ‘Denny’ played by Milo Ventimiglia.