It may be a Hollywood era of uncertainty and contraction, but in some dealmaking situations, it is anything but.
In a deal worth dozens of millions of dollars, Apple has closed a deal on the untitled hot package centered on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, formerly known as Unidentified Flying Objects. Joseph Kosinski is attached to direct and produce, with Zach Baylin on board to write the script. Veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer is on board to produce as well.
The deal represents more than just a reteaming of Kosinski and Bruckheimer and Apple, who this summer are unveiling high-octane racing movie F1. It is one of the richest deals in quite some time, one that underscores a shift in the event movie landscape and shows that behind-the-scenes talent, in this case a new generation combined with a longstanding veteran, can command top market prices.
Sources say that Top Gun: Maverick filmmaker Kosinski, despite a resume that includes only five movies, secured an eight-figure deal that puts him near the top of the director ladder, with fees that are comparable to such figures as Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg. Baylin is said to be making in the mid-seven figure range, more if he receives sole writing credit, also putting him in the top echelon of his profession. And Bruckheimer, whose career spans decades and includes the Top Gun and The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, is said to receive a top market producing fee of mid-seven figures.
While Apple confirmed the closing of the deal for the project, it had no comment on the fees and other points.
The high-profile UAP package hit the Hollywood market in mid-February, igniting a fierce bidding war that quickly saw figures soar.
Part of the appeal was the track record of the participants. Kosinski and Bruckheimer, as well as producer Chad Oman of Bruckheimer Films, first worked together on Top Gun: Maverick, which flew to almost $1.5 billion 2022. Now the trio were in post on F1, a Formula 1 racing movie that was made by Apple which has a theatrical release deal via Warner Bros. Buzz is high on the Brad Pitt movie, whose recent trailer was viewed dozens of millions of times.
Baylin, meanwhile, is the Oscar-nominated writer behind Will Smith’s King Richard and whose credits also include Creed III and last year’s Jude Law white supremacist thriller The Order. Adding to the sheen is the participation of David Grusch and Sonya Brown. Grusch famously testified in front of Congress on this subject and will be a consultant and associate producer on the project. Brown is an executive producer.
The story also had a timely resonance. It is described as a large-scale conspiracy thriller about two men working in national security who uncover a secret program to recover and reverse-engineer crashed UAP’s.
The untitled project ended up in a pitched street fight among Warner Bros., Paramount, Skydance, Amazon, Sony and Apple, which despite its involvement with F1, wasn’t initially in the mix.
At one level, the deal is a snapshot of Hollywood dealmaking is in 2025. Kosinski and Bruckheimer, along with A-lister Pitt, made a groundbreaking F1 deal in 2022, while the pandemic was still a factor and when streamers were ruling the market, paying massive quotes as well as buyout fees and all but pushing the studios out of the top packaging auctions.
Three years later, the studios have re-emerged as competitive forces, mainly for one reason: the theatrical release. Filmmakers and companies have come to realize that a theatrical window is key to the making of a hit and to making a cultural imprint, which many working in Hollywood are keen to do. And sources say that Netflix, which refuses to concede on that point, wasn’t even in the mix for UAP.
Despite the studio flex, however, in the end, the acquisition of UAP came down to Amazon and Apple, two streaming tech companies, insiders said. How did that happen? Since the days of the pandemic, Amazon has made theatrical one of their priorities and is building out an international distribution arm to launch in 2026. And Apple, on select projects, is willing to partner with studios for a theatrical release, as seen in the case of F1. (The company’s more recent movie, sci-fi horror The Gorge, was only seen on the platform.)
For F1, Apple went out to the Hollywood studios to see what kind of deal could be had, eventually giving Warners the keys to the speedster.
Insiders say a similar map could be followed for the UAP project — a theatrical partner will be undertaken down the road. The theatrical component would include backend participation, potentially further enriching the deal.
Sources say that while Amazon MGM made a strong play, it came down to the old Hollywood trope of “relationships.” The UAP players seemed to have had a fruitful time on F1 and were ready for more.
Meanwhile, several years after leaving the life of a first-look producing deal behind and producing movies since the late 1970s, Bruckheimer remains as active as ever. And as opposed to being housed at one home, he is spread across Hollywood; he is developing new installments of Pirates and National Treasure at Disney, another Bad Boys at Sony, another Top Gun at Paramount and a project or two at Netflix on top of the ones at Apple.
The UAP project’s strategy and players were put together by CAA, which represents Bruckheimer, Kosinski and Baylin. Kosinski is additionally repped by Untitled Entertainment and Sloane Offer while Baylin is additionally repped by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.