There’s that old adage – ‘never meet your heroes’ which, for reasons unknown, has applied to me interviewing producing legend Jerry Bruckheimer for the 17 years that HeyUGuys has been running. I’ve had the chance to chat to him three or four times before, have spoken to numerous others but for someone reason I’ve only ever mustered the courage to ask him a question during a Press Conference for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (I think! – Defo a Disney movie!) way back when.
Well, the chance came along where there was the opportunity to chat to him about the digital release of F1 The movie (which is out tomorrow – 12th December, incase you were wondering) and I finally managed to put on my big boy pants and go and chat to the legendary man whose films I’ve watched for the past 30 years.
Jerry Bruckheimer may not be a name that you immediately recognise, but a quick Google will show you the prominent force that he is in the movie industry. Now 82, Jerry has been at the top of his game for decades, producing the likes of Top Gun, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Bad Boys franchise, Armageddon, The Rock, Con Air, Black Hawk Down….. the list goes on and on. All in all his movies have grossed a whopping $13.3bn at the box office – which is slightly nuts!
Now it was time to take on F1, and with the rise of Drive to Survive on Netflix, it seemed like the perfect time for him to tackle the tricky subject of a sports movie (Though he also produced Days of Thunder and Remember the Titans, both classic samoung others, so no stranger there!).
During the interview, we talked about the incredible feats they went to create a compelling and realistic story of Sonny Hayes, a driver who never managed to achieve the ultimate feat of winning an F1 race. We also talked about his future projects of Heat 2 alongside Leonardi Di Caprio and Michael Mann who has a script written based on his book. We also took a little look back across his career and what’s made it so special.
All in all it was a wonderful discussion, and I’m so pleased I finally got to meet the man who has shaped my cinema trips for the last 30 years. Thank you Jerry!
Apple Original Films’ “F1 The Movie” premieres globally on Apple TV on December 12th and I highly recommend you watch it.
