Apple Wins Bidding War For Joseph Kosinski & Jerry Bruckheimer’s Mysterious UFO Thriller

Last month, a bidding war broke out among studios and streamers for an untitled UFO thriller hailing from “Top Gun: Maverick” and “F1” director Joseph Kosinski with help from mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

While that group of suitors consisted of the likes of Amazon, Apple, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and Paramount, a frontrunner wasn’t mentioned in the original report from THR. Now, Deadline has revealed that Apple Original Films has landed the project, which makes a lot of sense as they’ve worked with the duo on the Brad Pitt racing flick “F1” being released by WB in June.

READ MORE: ‘Top Gun 3’: Glen Powell Confirms He Has “A Date” For When Paramount’s Sequel Starts Shooting

We’re still waiting for more concrete character and plot details for the feature effort but will have a script penned by Oscar-nominated “King Richard” screenwriter Zach Baylin, as the thriller is said to “explore disclosure around UAPs (formerly known as UFOs).” Baylin’s other impressive credits as a writer feature things like Justin Kurzel‘s Neo-Nazi crime thriller “The Order,” “Bob Marley: One Love,” Neill Blomkamp‘s “Gran Turismo,” and “Creed III.”

UFOs are a common subject matter of sci-fi films, and are getting popular again as Steven Spielberg is behind his own mysterious original film with Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt starring and featuring the alien aircraft after tackling projects like “War of The Worlds,””E.T.,” and “Close Encounters of The Third Kind.”

Apple often seeks distribution partners to help release their films globally, having worked with Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures in the past. So, despite having their own streaming service with Apple TV+, a traditional theatrical release isn’t off the table for the UFO project.

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How this will impact things like Joseph Kosinski’s grand return for “Top Gun 3″ remains to be seen, but the package deal could move quickly, given the money being thrown around for it and how often Tom Cruise is busy.