Apple’s Most Expensive Movie Ever Hits Major Streaming Milestone

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Kerry Condon smiling with her mouth closed in F1.

Published Feb 2, 2026, 4:00 PM EST

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Apple's expensive gamble appears to have paid off, but it wasn't always smooth sailing for the tech giant as it made inroads in the film production business. Apple saw massive setbacks over the last couple of years, with big-budget movies such as the period drama Napoleon, the crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon, the spy comedy Argylle, and the romantic comedy Fly Me to the Moon all underperforming at the box office. The tech giant seemed to be second-guessing its strategy when it scrapped the theatrical release of the action film Wolfs. However, things turned around last year when it stood by the sports drama F1 and watched it deliver one of the most surprisingly robust box office hauls of 2025. The movie has since landed on the Apple TV streaming service, where it's showing no signs of slowing down.

According to FlixPatrol, F1 has spent 50 days at the number one spot on the domestic and global Apple TV viewership charts. It outperformed competitors such as The Family Plan 2, Highest 2 Lowest, and the very resilient genre mash-up The Gorge. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, F1 is Apple's most expensive original film, with a reported budget in the vicinity of $300 million. The movie is set in the high-stakes world of Formula One racing and features several of the sport's superstars. F1 stars Brad Pitt as an aging race-car driver pulled out of obscurity by an old friend and tasked with saving a struggling team. The film earned positive reviews upon release, with praise being showered on its racing sequences and Kosinski's direction.

'F1' Scored a Best Picture Nod at the Oscars

The movie made more than $630 million at the worldwide box office, outperforming tentpoles such as Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. F1 is now sitting at a "Certified Fresh" 82% critics' score and a near-perfect "Verified Hot" 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The aggregator website's consensus reads, "Driven by Brad Pitt's laidback magnetism and sporting a souped-up engine courtesy of Joseph Kosinski's kinetic direction, F1 brings vintage cool across the finish line." Like Kosinski's previous blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, F1 has been nominated in the Best Picture category at the Oscars.

You can watch the film on Apple TV. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.