F1: undoubtedly one of the biggest box-office surprises, but unfortunately not one of the most traditionally successful.
There is no doubt that *F1* was one of the surprises of 2025, but unfortunately, not much can be said for its commercial success when looking strictly at theatrical performance.
Yes, it was a feat to out-gross all the superhero movies of 2025, but it also surpassed them in costs, $250 million, to be exact. Furthermore, it lagged behind all those films in domestic revenue:
*F1*: $189.9 million
*Captain America: Brave New World*: $200 million
*Thunderbolts*: $192.2 million
*Superman*: $354.2 million
*Fantastic Four: First Steps*: $272 million
This matters because the domestic market yields higher profits than the international market. To make matters worse, $59 million came from China, and we all know how things work there; if we exclude the Chinese box office, it would fall behind *Superman* ($610 million vs. $575.1 million).
Even in terms of stability, it’s nothing to write home about. Yes, it had "good legs," but its performance was comparable to solid earners like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rather than massive hits in terms of longevity like Sinners or Obsession.
Its budget-to-revenue multiplier is a mere 2.53x, not to mention that F1 likely incurred higher additional costs, particularly due to Brad Pitt’s involvement.
Now, if we judge it solely by theatrical standards, my analysis holds up; however, if we measure it by Apple’s objectives, it has to be considered a massive, historic success. That said, there are nuances, Project Hail Mary outperformed it in both domestic and global box office metrics, and Amazon is a strong streaming contender, so the full picture is complex.
To reiterate: by theatrical standards, it’s merely a passable success, but by Apple’s standards, it is a massive, historic hit.
Posted Jul 3, 2026, 6:11 PM UTC