Maverick’ Team and U.S. Whistleblower

Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer are looking to repeat the box office success they found with Top Gun: Maverick in their latest summer blockbuster, F1, but it looks like the filmmakers are teaming up once again. Kosinki and Bruckheimer’s follow-up to the $1 billion-grossing Top Gun: Maverick, F1, is being produced by Apple and is set to be the studio’s big summer tentpole alongside a co-distribution deal with Warner Bros. Despite a recent report that came out about how Apple Studios, through Apple TV+ and their theatrically released films, was losing money, the tech company is investing heavily in the creative team behind F1.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Apple made a deal worth “dozens of millions of dollars” to acquire a package for an untitled feature film from director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean), and screenwriter Zach Baylin (King Richard). The film is described as being centered on the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), previously known as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO). Following the box office smash hit Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski reportedly negotiated an eight-figure deal as director and producer, putting him in the same pay range as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. The film is bringing on David Grusch as an associate producer and consultant on the film. Grush is a well-known and controversial government whistle-blower who discusses UAPs and extraterrestrial life.

David Grusch is a former United States Air Force officer and intelligence official who has claimed that the federal government is collaborating with private aerospace companies. Grush claims these organizations have secretive special access to programs involved in the recovery of “non-human” spacecraft and their dead pilots, with the hope of reverse engineering these crafts. Grush also claims that people have been threatened and killed to conceal these programs, with various white-collar crimes having been committed to hide this information. Both NASA and the Department of Defense have denied Grusch’s claims, stating no proof of them exists. Regardless, the topic has become a much-discussed issue. On July 26, 2023, The United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability organized a hearing where Grush spoke publicly.

The Truth Is Out there…at Least at the Cinema

This upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski collaboration with Grusch is the latest in a growing trend of films centered on the formerly titled UFO phenomenon. The documentary Age of Disclosure premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on Mar. 9, 2025, and looks to tackle the alleged existence and cover-up of extraterrestrial intelligence. The film currently has not been acquired for distribution. Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s next feature film is a top-secret blockbuster that is heavily rumored to be about UFOs and aliens. That movie is set to be released in May 2026 by Universal Pictures.

There is clearly a growing appetite for movies based around aliens, specifically the idea of UAPs, and Hollywood is looking to cash in. No release date is set for Apple’s untitled UAP movie, but one hopes that Kosinski will be able to get the movie in theaters with a quicker turnaround time than his previous film. Top Gun: Maverick was delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and F1 was forced to shut down production in the summer of 2023 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. If F1 proves to be a box office and critical hit, that will certainly make the expectation for Kosinski and Bruckheimer’s next collaboration even greater.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter