‘F1’s Sequel Wants To Embrace an Epic Matchup With This ’90s Film

It was not too long ago introduced that F1: The Film will get a sequel. That shouldn’t be stunning; the movie was each a essential and industrial hit constructed round one of many world’s hottest and marketable sports activities. Joseph Kosinski blended IMAX-scale spectacle with old school film star charisma to ship a movie offered on immersion, craft, and pure velocity. However the sequel instantly raises a query the primary movie intentionally leaves open: the place can Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes go subsequent?

To justify its existence, the following movie wants greater than a much bigger finances or quicker automobiles. The reply could also be hiding in plain sight: flip the sequel right into a stealth legacy crossover by folding Days of Thunder instantly into the world of F1. Bringing Brad Pitt face-to-face with Tom Cruise would immediately increase the sequel’s stakes and provides it a built-in thematic framework about legacy, danger, and whether or not velocity means the identical factor when each the game and its stars have developed.

Combining ‘Days of Thunder’ and ‘F1’ Would Be a Workforce-Up For the Ages

In Days of Thunder, Cruise performed Cole Trickle as a uncooked, gifted driver powered nearly solely by ego. He barely understood the hazard of his personal expertise, mistaking recklessness for future. That makes him a compelling counterpoint to Sonny Hayeswho enters F1 already carrying scars, remorse, and an consciousness of what velocity has price him. Even Sonny’s former teammate Joshua Pearce (Damon Idris) echoed Cole’s youthful impulses, outlined by conceitedness and impatience.

Dropping an older Cole into fashionable Method One would instantly generate battle. Inventory automotive racing rewards intuition and aggression, whereas F1 calls for precision, restraint, and fixed collaboration with engineers and information groups. Cole would arrive as a relic of a distinct racing philosophy. Sonny, against this, has already tailored, or at the very least tried to. It will present redemption for a franchise seen by Cruise’s followers as an also-ran to Prime Gun and present the Oscar-nominated F1 with an thrilling sequel hook past doing all of it once more.

There are a number of methods to construction the battle for max rigidity. Cole might return as a disruptive rival, pulled again into racing as a publicity gamble or a last-ditch try and stabilize a struggling group. He could possibly be tasked with mentoring a younger driver, solely to seek out himself clashing with Sonny over philosophy, method, and pleasure. Simply as compelling can be forcing the 2 into an uneasy partnership that pushes the 2 growing older icons into the identical storage. Prime Gun: Maverick confirmed Cruise is prepared to lean into age, and F1’s strongest off-the-track moments got here when Sonny doubted his instincts. Watching each males confront these doubts collectively would add actual dramatic weight.

It has been greater than 30 years since Cruise and Pitt final shared the display in Interview With the Vampire. In that point, their star personas have hardened into one thing nearly mythic. Pitt brings a laid-back cool that reads as earned knowledge; Cruise brings relentless depth that refuses to age. On paper, crossing Days of Thunder with F1 would possibly sound like a money seize. In observe, it’s a chance to push each actors into sharp, aggressive performances. Cruise’s cocksure assurance colliding with Pitt’s weary confidence could possibly be flamable, humorous, and unexpectedly susceptible. That chemistry alone would elevate the sequel above an ordinary sports activities follow-up.

The Artistic Infrastructure For a ‘Days of Thunder’ Crossover Is Already in Place

Days of Thunder and F1 share producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and Cruise has a long-standing inventive relationship with F1 Joseph Kosinski by way of Oblivion and Prime Gun: Maverick. Kosinski has overtly floated the crossover conceptand his profession makes the case for why it might work. Prime Gun: Maverick proved audiences are wanting to revisit iconic characters when the execution respects each previous and current. That issues, particularly since Days of Thunder was initially marketed as doing for inventory automotive racing what Prime Gun did for fighter jets.

Jerry Bruckheimer’s involvement additional strengthens the case. Few producers perceive the best way to steadiness star energy and high-concept spectacle higher than he does, and Bruckheimer at all times appears open to sequels. Cruise’s loyalty to administrators he trusts — mixed with the obvious winding down of the Mission: Inconceivable franchise — makes a return to Cole Trickle believable. Kosinski’s skill to floor spectacle in character can be important if F1 desires to increase with out tipping into self-parody. After all, there are obstacles. F1 was an Apple and Warner Bros. collaboration, and Days of Thunder is a Paramount property, and there are possible a number of intricacies concerned in combining the 2 franchises, however a team-up wouldn’t solely up the ante for F1however convey Days of Thunder out of retirement after many years, very similar to Maverick did.

A Crossover Would Make the Sequel Vital, Not Optionally available

With no daring swing, an F1 sequel dangers turning into a quicker lap across the similar monitor. Bringing Tom Cruise into the fold via a Days of Thunder crossover would rework a formidable sequel right into a must-see. Pitt versus Cruise can be the headline, however the actual attraction is thematic.

The movie might discover how competitors modifications with age, how ego can evolve or calcify, and whether or not velocity continues to be value chasing when it not defines you. It might result in a sequel that retains the unique movie’s velocitynoise, and immersion whereas additionally upping the stakes and deepening its characters. And it might permit Cruise to take one remaining lap as Cole Trickle in a method that feels progressive, somewhat than simply one other do-it-again legacy sequel.

F1 is obtainable to stream on Apple TV within the U.S.