Brad Pitt has revealed that he and Tom Cruise were on the verge of becoming the star duo in Ford v Ferrari, but Cruise backed out of the project after learning that his character wouldn’t spend much time behind the wheel, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Pitt and Cruise were originally attached to star in an early version of the film directed by Joseph Kosinski — the director of Top Gun: Maverick, who later helmed F1, starring Pitt in the lead role.

“It all came down to the fact that we both wanted to drive,” Pitt explained to The National News. “When Tom realized that Carroll Shelby wouldn’t be doing much driving in the script, he decided to step away.”

Pitt was initially set to play race car driver Ken Miles, a role ultimately taken on by Christian Bale after director James Mangold took over the project. Matt Damon portrayed automotive designer Carroll Shelby in the 2019 sports drama, which tells the story of Ford’s team as they build a groundbreaking race car for the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Pitt praised Mangold’s version of the film as “great,” adding that although the version with Cruise didn’t come to life, he would gladly work with him again — this time in a potential sequel to F1. The two last shared the screen in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire. “I’m not sure exactly how that would work, but we’ll give it a try. I’d love that,” Pitt said.

F1, now playing in theaters, stars Pitt as Sonny Hayes — a once-promising Formula 1 driver whose career is nearly derailed after a serious crash. He’s convinced to return to the sport and lead a struggling team, including a rising young star played by Damson Idris, to victory.

Meanwhile, Joseph Kosinski told GQ UK that he’s already considering a sequel that could include Tom Cruise — in a crossover with his 1990 film Days of Thunder. “It would be Cole Trickle — Tom’s character from Days of Thunder. We’d learn that he and Sonny Hayes have a shared history, that they were once rivals,” Kosinski said. “I heard about an epic go-kart race they had during Interview with the Vampire. Who wouldn’t pay to see those two face off on the track again?” |BGNES