Documentary content about Formula 1 has really taken off recently, particularly with the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive To Survive from Box to Box Films (which has its fourth season coming out Friday, and released a trailer for that Wednesday). Now, there’s an Apple TV+ documentary coming on one specific driver, seven-time champion Sir Lewis Hamilton (seen above in 2019), and Box to Box is also attached to that. Here’s more on that from Etan Vlessing at The Hollywood Reporter:
Apple TV+ has acquired a feature documentary about Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula One world champion, to be directed by Matt Kay.
The unnamed project will offer access to Hamilton and his team, on and off the track, as well as guest interviews. The documentary will be produced by Hamilton, Penni Thow, Box to Box Films and One Community. Richard Plepler will executive produce through his Eden Productions; Scott Budnick will also serve as executive producer.
It’s interesting that London-based company Box to Box is attached to this as well. Beyond Formula 1: Drive To Survive, they’ve already announced projects in tennis and golf. And Plepler, the former chairman and CEO of HBO, is a notable name in his own right. So there’s quite the team behind this.
As Vlessing notes in that THR piece, this is part of an expanded recent slate of documentaries coming to Apple TV+. In sports alone, they have documentaries coming on the New England Patriots and on Magic Johnson. They also have a first-look deal with Meadowlark Media, and they’ve done lots of fictional sports series, from Ted Lasso to Swagger.And they just signed a deal for some live MLB games. So it feels like there’s a sports expansion going on there.
Beyond that, there’s a lot of Hamilton content going around. He’s been a key player in the various Drive to Survive seasons, and he’s also reportedly involved with an untitled Brad Pitt/Joseph Kosinski racing movie. It will be worth keeping an eye on this documentary and how it turns out.
[The Hollywood Reporter; photo from Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports]
