F1: The Movie roars with $10M in previews while M3GAN 2.0 starts cautiously at $1.5M

F1: The Movie and M3GAN 2.0 were both released in theaters on Thursday, June 26, 2025. However, the movie with the fastest cars raced past the one with killer robots when it came to the opening box office numbers, according to a report by Variety published the following day.

F1: The Movie made $10 million in advance previews, including the $7.2 million on Thursday. In comparison, M3GAN 2.0 trailed behind, bringing $1.5 million on the same day.

While Brad Pitt's starrer F1: The Movie is reportedly expected to become the highest-grossing film over the weekend, projections for the box office number vary widely. Supporters of the film estimate an opening between $50 to $60 million, while others predict a softer debut in the range of $35 to $40 million.

According to Variety, the reason for the latter estimate is largely due to the current market trend that has been cornered by IP-driven projects, while original films have not been doing well. However, there have been exceptions to the phenomenon, as the film Sinners by Ryan Coogler, which recently defied the odds.

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Production budgets of F1: The Movie and M3GAN 2.0

According to a report by Fox 8, dated June 29, 2025, F1: The Movie carries a massive production budget of more than $200 million. However, it is in align with the expectations from Apple Studios, which has previously spent enormous amounts on films such as Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon.

While the films were a critical success, they did not achieve that translation to box office numbers. Nevertheless, the budget allocated for such high-quality productions demonstrates Apple's commitment to both theatrical releases as well as its streaming service.

According to ABC News, on the other hand, M3GAN 2.0 has a budget of $25 million. As such, the conservative estimate of raking in $20 million in the opening weekend appears far more lucrative than its competition. It is still a drop from the original 2022 film, which collected $30.4 million in the opening weekend.

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Exploring the plots of F1: The Movie and M3GAN 2.0

F1: The Movie centers on Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a former top Formula One driver who was incapacitated by a near-fatal crash in 1993. Now, he is a drifting racer-for-hire living out of a van. Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the owner of the struggling APX GP team and Sonny's old teammate, approaches him following a thrilling victory at Daytona.

Ruben convinces Sonny to rejoin Formula 1 and coach promising rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) to help APX win at least one of the final nine races. APX has been in financial ruin and has zero points in recent seasons.

Joshua, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), and a cynical board member, Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies), are the first people Sonny argues with before becoming friendly with both.

To support the team, he sometimes breaks the rules and invents strategic innovations on the track. Joshua has a violent accident, and Banning's internal sabotage poses a threat to the team's complete disintegration.

Allison Williams is the main character of the movie M3GAN 2.0 since Gemma has transformed herself into an AI ethics campaigner. Meanwhile, teenager Cady has grown more mischievous. AMELIA, a highly powerful military-grade android, is created by a defense contractor using M3GAN's technology, but it quickly goes rogue and poses a threat to the entire world.

Intentionally, Gemma brings back an improved M3GAN that is stronger, faster, and more capable of fighting, to defeat AMELIA and save humanity. The high-stakes battle culminates with M3GAN using an EMP to sacrifice herself to kill AMELIA and shut down a potent AI motherboard, leaving behind a lasting digital echo.

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