The makers of the 2025 film called ’F1’ and starring Brad Pitt have hit back at reports the movie’s budget tipped the scales at an incredible $300 million.
If true, the immense budget would almost put the movie, which has been filmed during Formula 1 race weekends with modified F2 cars, in the top ten most expensive productions of all time.
In comparison, The Last Jedi cost $300 million - while Titanic only cost $200 million back in 1997.
But while producer Jerry Bruckheimer admits the Hollywood strike and delays last year added to the costs, he says the $300m price-tag is wildly wrong.
"It’s tens of millions of dollars out of whack in the wrong direction, and in the right direction for us," he told Hollywood news publication Deadline.
"Plus, we’ve raised more money for our (filming) car than some Formula 1 teams," Bruckheimer added, referring to on-car sponsorship including Expensify, the Lewis Hamilton-linked Tommy Hilfiger, IWC and others.
"You take that all into consideration and it really drops that number quite a bit lower than what people would think."
However, he refused to say exactly how much the movie is actually costing.
"We can’t give you a number because that’s Apple’s money and they can talk about it," said Bruckheimer. "But what I think you can say is it’s quite a bit lower than what’s been reported."
Director Joseph Kosinski agreed: "I’m just going to say I’m used to having a lot of the movies I’ve worked on over-reported for whatever reason. But I’ve never had an experience where they were off by this much on a film.
"I’m not sure where that number came from."