Apple is paying a reported $225 million to director Joe Kosinksi to acquire a Formula 1-themed racing movie starring Brad Pitt. 

According to former Hollywood Reporter top editor Matt Beloni, who now publishes the inside-Hollywood Substack newsletter Puck, the pricey deal comes includes a $40 million fee for Pitt to produce and star in the film. The agreement also calls for an exclusive theatrical window. 

Kosinkis is known for the 2017 wildfire fighting-themed tearjerker Only the Brave, as well as the highly anticipated (and highly delayed) Tom Cruise-led sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

As for why we're suddenly interested in the breathless churn of Hollywood projection development news: Netflix has openly stated its interest in expanding on the success of its docu-series Formula 1: Fight to Survive with a possible poaching of Formula 1-series broadcast rights from ESPN, with the current deal set to expire after the 2022 racing season. 

“A few years ago, the rights to Formula 1 were sold,” Netflix Co-CEO Reed Hastings told Germany's Der Spiegel in September. “At that time, we were not among the bidders. Today, we would think about it.”

Would Apple overpay for a project just to lane-block a FAANG rival from a piece that would enable an organic entry into live sports? 

ABC has revealed the presenters at the 93rd Oscars, which airs live on ABC Sunday, April 25. Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger and Zendaya will present Academy Awards.

Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh are producing the event. “In keeping with our awards-show-as-a-movie approach, we’ve assembled a truly stellar cast of stars,” said the trio. “There’s so much wattage here, sunglasses may be required.”

Additional talent will be announced later. 

Best Picture is between Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Father and The Trial of the Chicago 7. 

The 93rd Oscars will be held at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and international locations via satellite. The event starts at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts the Oscars. Glenn Weiss directs. 

Netflix continues to build its movie slate, acquiring the distribution rights to the film War Machine starring Brad Pitt.

The David Michôd-directed film Inspired by the best-selling book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan will debut on the OTT service and select theaters in 2016, said the OTT service. The movie stars Pitt as a four-star general whose impeccable track record vaults him to command the American war in Afghanistan, according to Netflix.

“War Machine is a rip-roaring, behind-the-facade tale of modern war decision-makers, from the corridors of power to the distant regions of America’s ambitions,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “Brad and David are a perfect team to make this timely, compelling and entertaining film.” 

Netflix and Pitt will produce the film alongside Plan B partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, and producer Ian Bryce (World War Z, Saving Private Ryan).

HBO will team with Tom Hanks to create a miniseries around explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the network said Friday.

Lewis and Clark, based on the book Undaunted Courage by Stephen A. Ambrose, will star Casey Affleck and Matthias Schoenaerts as the American explorers.

The six-hour miniseries will be executive-produced by Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Tim Kelly and Adam Leipzig for HBO.

“In Lewis and Clark, we can see American idealism and the breathtaking natural beauty of the continent, as well as the complexities and tragedies of what came to be known as America’s ‘manifest destiny’,” said HBO programing president Michael Lombardo in a statement. “We are tremendously excited to bring together this incredible group of talents to tell a seminal American story.”