Hollywood, Global – Brad Pitt’s high-octane racing drama F1 has made a turbo-charged debut at the global box office, earning an impressive $144 million in its opening weekend. With $88.4 million coming from international markets and $55.6 million from North America, the film has quickly established itself as a commercial contender for the summer.

Directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer alongside Formula One legend Lewis Hamilton, F1 tells the story of a retired racing champion (Pitt) who returns to the track to mentor a bold young rookie, played by British-Nigerian actor Damson Idris. The film blends intense race sequences with emotional drama and has been praised for its realism and energy.

Key markets helping to fuel the film’s global haul include the UK ($9.2 million), China ($9 million), and Mexico ($6.7 million).

Apple’s Breakthrough in Theatrical Cinema

F1 represents a major breakthrough for tech giant Apple, which has struggled to turn its big-budget films into box office successes. Previous titles like Napoleon and Argylle fell short of expectations, despite massive investments. With a hefty production budget nearing $250 million and a costly global marketing push, F1 still has a long road ahead to break even. But industry analysts suggest that its strong start positions it as Apple’s most promising theatrical title to date.

Apple is distributing the film in collaboration with Warner Bros., which receives a portion of the box office revenues based on performance milestones. If momentum continues, F1 is poised to surpass Napoleon ($221 million globally) as Apple’s highest-grossing film ever.

Imax and International Appeal

A large part of F1's cinematic appeal lies in its Imax presentation. Filmed with immersive cameras to capture the blistering pace of F1 racing, Imax screenings alone brought in $27.7 million globally — accounting for 19% of the film’s total earnings and marking one of the format’s highest-performing films in history.

Apple’s Head of Worldwide Video, Zack Van Amburg, praised the team: “F1 has inspired audiences around the world with its blend of thrilling action and heartfelt storytelling. It’s a global event film with real emotional weight.”

Other Box Office Movers

In contrast, Universal and Blumhouse’s tech-horror sequel M3GAN 2.0 failed to rev up much interest, opening to just $17 million globally. With $7 million coming from 80 international markets and $10.2 million from the U.S., the sequel is far behind the original M3GAN, which debuted to $45 million worldwide in 2023.

While the sequel’s $25 million budget means the studio won’t take a major loss, audience fatigue and lukewarm reviews suggest limited staying power for the AI horror follow-up.

Meanwhile, Universal has more to smile about with its live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, which continues to soar. In its third weekend, it added $32 million from international audiences, bringing its global total to $454 million. A sequel is already slated for release in 2027.

Disney’s Two-Sided Coin

Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remains a juggernaut at the family box office. The film earned another $13.1 million from 52 markets over the weekend, pushing its global total to $946 million. With the billion-dollar mark within reach, the Hawaiian-set adventure looks set to be one of Disney’s most successful live-action adaptations yet. A sequel is already in development.

However, not all is well in the Disney-Pixar corner. Elio, an original sci-fi coming-of-age tale, continues to underperform. After a dismal opening, the film brought in just $11.4 million from 48 territories in its second weekend, with a worldwide total of $73 million so far — far short of its $150 million production cost.

Despite positive reviews and some word-of-mouth momentum, Elio may join the ranks of recent Pixar projects that struggled to translate critical praise into commercial success.