Apple's 'F1' Movie Soars At Box Office, Could Outgross Tech Giant's Previous Theatrical Films Combined

The highly anticipated "F1" movie dominated the box office weekend and could be a rare theatrical hit for tech giant Apple Inc. AAPL.

Here's a look at how the film stacks up versus other Apple theatrical releases and why it's success is important.

What Happened: Starring Brad Pitt, "F1" topped the box office weekend with $55.6 million domestically and $144 million worldwide.

The film is estimated to have a budget of $250 million to $300 million, as reported by Variety.

"We're thrilled by the global response to ‘F1' and grateful to the audiences who've embraced the film with such enthusiasm," Apple's head of worldwide video, Jamie Erlicht, said. "This success is a testament to the vision of Joe (Kosinski), Jerry (Bruckheimer), Brad, and Lewis (Hamilton), along with the efforts of the entire cast and crew. Together with Formula 1, they've created an inspiring cinematic journey that captures the energy and spirit of the sport."

Box office estimates projected the film to gross $50 million to $60 million domestically during its opening weekend. The movie opened past the halfway point of that range and international totals from 78 markets likely outperformed estimates.

New estimates suggest the film will gross $500 million to $600 million worldwide, as reported by 9to5Mac. To put that range into perspective, "F1" could not only be the top-grossing Apple film ever, but also make more than all the other Apple theatrical releases combined.

Here are the past four Apple films released in theaters, with the opening and total worldwide box office.

"Killers of the Flower Moon": $44 million opening, $158 million total
"Napoleon": $78 million opening, $221 million total
"Argylle": $35 million opening, $96 million total
"Fly Me to the Moon": $19 million opening, $42 million total

Barring any setbacks, "F1" will become the highest-grossing Apple film. If the film can gross $517 million worldwide at the box office, it would surpass the total earnings of all other Apple films combined.

Why It's Important: Apple has released a limited number of original films in theaters with minimal success at the box office. None of the four movies above has made a profit.

Instead, the films have proven to be a marketing push for the company's Apple TV+ streaming platform. With "F1" doing well at the box office, it could mark the tech giant's first profitable theatrical film and also help the streaming platform down the road when the film becomes available on streaming.

Without a distribution arm, Apple relies on partners and must pay upfront fees and a portion of the box office revenue. In this case, that means Warner Bros. Discovery WBD will also benefit from the strong showing of "F1" at theaters.

Premium movie theater company IMAX Corp. IMAX could also benefit from fans rushing to see the film on its larger screens. Imax and premium formats made up 55% of domestic ticket sales. Imax made up $27.7 million of the total global box office, or around 19%.

"With the most realistic racing sequences ever committed to film, ‘F1: The Movie' quite simply demands to be experienced in Imax, and audiences around the world clearly got that message," Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said.

Overall, the success of the film could be beneficial for the Formula 1 racing league, which is publicly traded as Liberty Formula One FWONA FWONK. The racing league, which has been popular in international markets, has gained popularity in the US thanks to a docuseries on Netflix Inc. NFLX.

Netflix and The Walt Disney Company DIS could also benefit from the movie, with Netflix having the docuseries and Disney's ESPN having U.S. media rights. There have been reports that Apple has also explored acquiring global rights to the racing league in the future.

"F1" ranks well with an A grade on Cinemascore, 7.9 rating on IMDb, 83% Tomatometer from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97% Popcornmeter rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

Continued excitement and box office success for the film could help Apple and several other companies.

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