Jerry Bruckheimer dropped hints about a possible followup to “F1: The Movie,” “Top Gun 3” and a new “Pirates of the Caribbean” installment during his conversation Thursday at the Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit.
But mostly the veteran producer spent his wide-ranging conversation with Variety‘s Clayton Davis explaining the job that is often hard to define — the role of a producer — and discussing the state of the film business.
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Bruckheimer fielded a blockbuster this summer with director Joseph Kosinski, Apple and Warner Bros. with “F1: The Movie.” Many saw the film as a risk for the U.S. market given that Formula 1 racing is not nearly as popular as it is in Europe. But that’s precisely why it clicked at America’s multiplexes, Bruckheimer said.
“It gave you a great ride and you got immersed inside this world that you knew nothing about. And when you walked out, you knew a lot more about what these drivers go through. They’re some of the greatest athletes in the world. There’s only 20 of them,” Bruckheimer told Davis.
Stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris “trained for four months just to be able to drive these cars. That’s how difficult they are to drive. And they’re going 220 miles an hour. Our guys were only going about 180. But just the speed and the technology and the things that they did to make that movie as good as it turned out — we gotta hand it to our actors who work so hard to do it,” Bruckheimer said.
Bruckheimer gave credit to Kosinski and to Apple for pursuing camera innovations that allowed the director to capture the incredible racing footage that made “F1” so satisfying as a moviegoing experience.
“Joe is trained as an engineer and an architect, and he is so precise about everything,” Bruckheimer said. “He loves our business, he loves telling stories. He’s a phenomenal technician looking at 16 different camera angles on that car, four at a time. They developed new technology so we could put these cameras on the car. The camera was half the size of the cameras that we used in [2022’s} “Top Gun” Maverick.” And that’s such an interesting way of looking at coming inside a world with, takes you inside this phenomenal sport and makes you almost a part of it. You felt like you were driving those cars the way Joe designed it and photographed it along with [cinematographer] Claudio Miranda.”
“F1: The Movie” was released in late June and has grossed $624 million worldwide. All of that investment paid off in giving movie fans a reason to see “F1” as a cinema event, the producer said.
“It’s up to us that are in this industry to make entertainment that people want to leave their home and go out and see,” Bruckheimer said. “We all have kitchens in our houses, right? But we all like to go out to dinner. But you want a good meal and we gotta give ’em good meals. And the more we have our great writers, our great actors, our great directors do really hard work to bring something to audiences that they want to go see.”
To that end, Bruckheimer recommends hiring a driven actor such as “F1” star Pitt or Tom Cruise, his “Top Gun” collaborator.
“When you work with Tom or with Brad, they’re so value added ’cause they just want to win. They want to make a great movie. They want to have a great performance. They want to make sure that they can promote the movie, that audiences will love it. They just wanna win,” Bruckheimer said.
Davis worked hard to draw out movie scoops from Bruckheimer. The producer didn’t give up much but he nodded to a few high-profile prospects among what he said were about 30 projects in various stages of development. “We’re developing another ‘Top Gun.’ Hopefully we’ll make another ‘F1.’ We’re working on another ‘Pirates,’ ” Bruckheimer said. “We’re working on a lot of different movies that have become successful and hopefully we can get ’em all made.” (Davis was quick to quip, “Are we going to call it ‘F2?’)
Bruckheimer has a long resume in film and TV that includes a slew of notable pics and cultural touchstones from the 1980s to the present day: “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Bad Boys,” “Top Gun,” “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor,” “The Rock,” “Black Hawk Down,” “National Treasure,” “CSI,” “The Amazing Race,” “Cold Case,” “Without a Trace” and “Fire Country.” At this stage of his career, Bruckheimer has nothing left to prove. But he closed his time on stage with a heartfelt, Capra-esque explanation of why he keeps doing the hands-on work of making movies and TV shows after five decades in the trenches.
“It’s the greatest thing to do, to entertain people. It’s not about the money anymore. It’s about the smile you put on people’s faces, the fact that you move them,” Bruckheimer explained. “You take ’em away from their lives for a couple of hours, and make them feel better or feel something when they walk out. And that’s the pleasure I get when I stand in the back of an audience and watch them watch one of our films where people are actually moved. And that’s what you try to accomplish. We don’t always get there, but when we do, it’s really exhilarating.”
(Pictured: Clayton Davis and Jerry Bruckheimer)
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