It was Apple’s commitment to customer accessibility that inspired the haptic F1 trailer, an industry-first promotional tool that has provoked a strong response heading into this weekend’s release. The Brad Pitt motor racing drama opens around the world through theatrical partner Warner Bros and has just grossed approximately $10m in previews on more than 3,400 locations in North America, a record for Apple.
Unlike the accompanying conventional trailer depicting Pitt and rising British star Damson Idris as a veteran of the sport and his new rookie teammate, the haptic trailer offers a sensory experience and vibrates in the hands of iPhone users running the latest version of iOS 18.
The special trailer deploys the phone’s Taptic Engine, a tiny component inside the handset that creates tactile feedback and will be familiar to iPhone users everywhere whenever they adjust the volume, receive a text, or rearrange home screen icons.
In this case the trailer was synched to key moments in the film and rumbles with varying intensity as Pitt buckles into his seat, or a driver roars out of a pitstop or crashes into a wall.
Apple Original Films collaborated with other teams across Apple and began work on the haptic trailer sometime last year. However the technology, says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, goes back further and stems from one of the company’s core beliefs.
“I’ve been at Apple for 36 years and [accessibility] has been part of the DNA since the very beginning as we wanted to create a product that everyone in the world can use,” Cue, who oversees Apple’s services including the TV, music and podcast apps, Apple TV+ and iCloud services, says. “Before we started thinking about this for a movie trailer we had this idea about how the deaf community could experience Apple Music [through] this haptic capability on the phone.”
Apple launched the accessibility feature Music Haptics in September 2024 with iOS 18, enabling users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music on the iPhone through vibrations in time with the music. “That’s the genesis of the trailer,” Cue says.
Apple Original Films and the company’s other divisions worked with F1’s director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer – who last collaborated on the 2022 box office smash Top Gun: Maverick – to customise the trailer.
“The first time we did it wasn’t quite right, and we figured out that the haptic is not the same setting every single time,” Cue notes, adding that the trailer features more than 50 unique and localised vibration patterns. “You want it to feel differently as if you were really in the car or right there putting your seatbelt on.”
Social media, Hollywood response
The result caused a stir on social media. “My favourite [comment] was someone from the deaf community commenting that it felt like they could hear the car,” Cue says. From the sounds of it, the haptic trailer also caught the eye of Hollywood rivals. “I think every movie studio has called us to ask how it was done.”
The executive continues: “It’s something that you’re going to see a lot more of, but you have to figure out where the right places are to use it and not overdo it. It’s hard to create a wow factor for a trailer. It’s clear that this makes sense to do again, so I’m sure we will.”
As for the film itself, Cue says Kosinski, the filmmakers and cast strove for authenticity – and benefited from the insights of British Formula 1 legend and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, a producer on the film. “He has been involved in this from the very beginning and he’s made sure that the story makes sense if you were an F1 driver,” Cue adds.
“Most people have never flown a plane or know anything about it, but everyone’s driven a car,” Cue says. “You watch Formula 1 races and there’s a lot of nuances and things that people know, so we wanted this movie to have an authenticity never seen before in any kind of racing movie. There has never been a movie where people have had this level of access.”
Kosinski used iPhone cameras inside the cars to add to the immersive experience, and filmed on actual race days and qualifying sessions. Filming locations took in Silverstone in the UK, as well as Abu Dhabi, Las Vegas, and Hungary.
The leads also rolled up their sleeves. “Brad and Damson are racing the cars,” Cue says. “For over three months they were learning how to drive these cars. It’s really them.”
Film strategy
All of Hollywood wants to know more about Apple’s film strategy. Frequent talking points concern the kinds of films it will make, how long they will play exclusively in cinemas before they go to Apple TV+, and whether the company continues to work with Hollywood distribution partners or eventually releases in-house.
Cue remains circumspect and focused on the big picture. “It’s easy. Our theatrical is the same thing as our movie and TV shows, TV+, and iPhones and iPads: we want to make the best products in the world. In the case of theatrical movies like F1 we were always planning this from a theatrical point of view, and we’ll continue to do more movies theatrically. There are other movies that will go direct to TV+.”
He adds: “F1 is an event movie that’s going to be a lot of fun watching theatrically with hundreds of people. There’s a feeling of watching a movie like this in the theatre that is second to none. So we’re huge fans of that. We’re not set in stone on anything. We want to do different things that make sense for the different platforms.”
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