Snowfall Star Damson Idris Snags Coveted Role in Untitled Brad Pitt/Apple Studios F1 Racing Film

The latest project from Apple Studios and producers Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer has reportedly found its co-star. The as-yet-untitled Formula 1 racing vehicle for Brad Pitt has been deeply steeped in the casting process since November, finally resting upon Snowfall’s Damson Idris for the role opposite Pitt.

The casting apparently comes after a slew of meetings, auditions, and even driving tests. Over the course of several months, Apple execs, along with Kosinski and Bruckheimer, met with a dozen actors. One reason for the “intense” process, which included several screen tests and “days” of driving tests, was the impetus to focus on “natural” action effects in the upcoming film–a focus that recently worked very successfully for Kosinski and Bruckheimer with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

While Top Gun’s fighter jets will be replaced with F1 race cars, Idris will play Pitt’s teammate–a young driver who Pitt comes out of retirement to train and mentor. The project from Kosinski and Bruckheimer will be joined by Chad Oman (Jerry Bruckheimer Films), Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, and producer and legendary F1 champ Lewis Hamilton (via his Dawn Apollo Films). Penni Thow, the CEO of Copper, will come on as executive producer. Deadline reported the massive deal as an ideal package for Apple, which is “still getting up to speed on the development front” for premium streaming content.

Related: From Days of Thunder to Drive to Survive: How Racing Has Evolved On Screen

Leaving Snowfall for F1

The British-Nigerian Idris, who achieved fame through his role in FX’s crime drama Snowfall, more recently appeared in season 1 of Swarm. In addition, he played drone pilot Lt. Harp in Netflix’s sci-fi action flick Outside the Wire (2021) –a film from director Mikael Håfström that contends with the subject of technological warfare. Idris has also appeared in Liam Neeson’s 2018 film The Commuter and the 2018 film Farming alongside Kate Beckinsale. In 2019, Idris appeared in season 5 of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror as well as Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone.

Leaving sci-fi for the fast cars of Formula 1, Idris joins Pitt off the tails of his fast-action film Bullet Train (2022). This will be Bruckheimer’s second racing film following the hit NASCAR flick Days of Thunder (Tom Cruise, 1990). Producer/Racer Lewis Hamilton says he anticipates the film to be “the greatest racing movie ever” and may participate in the stunt driving. The production will film in 2023 and release exclusively in theaters before streaming on Apple TV+.