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Booming Business of F1 Explored in Documentary Airing Ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix 

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
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Booming Business of F1 Explored in Documentary Airing Ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix 

Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)
Red Bull Racing's Dutch driver Max Verstappen races during the 2023 United States Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on October 22, 2023. (AFP)

Formula One fanatics will get more behind-the-scenes access to the global motorsports series through a new CNBC documentary that explores the business aspects of the highest form of racing in the world.

The documentary "Inside Track: The Business of Formula 1" will debut Nov. 16 on CNBC ahead of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Las Vegas race is a third stop in the United States this season as F1 has expanded through North America behind a burst of popularity sparked by Netflix’s own docudrama on the series.

While the "Drive To Survive" series on Netflix focuses on the competitors and the drama of F1, the CNBC one-hour documentary will analyze the finances, revenue, and expansion of the series, as well as the role of sponsors.

CNBC anchor and documentary host Sara Eisen said the program is a "true passion project for me."

"I was initially drawn to F1 because my two young children love the sport, but once we started watching the races together, I realized there was something undeniably fascinating from a business perspective that demanded a full exploration of the sport as it reaches new heights in America," Eisen said.

She said the program will explore how the business of F1 "stands firmly at the intersection of sports, technology and culture."

Eisen will take a closer look at attendance, viewership, and market value, as well as next month’s Las Vegas race that is being promoted by F1. Eisen reports from four different F1 venues and had access to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who discusses the series’ growth since Liberty took over the commercial rights in 2017.

Eisen also interviewed F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, as well as team leaders from Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Haas, and drivers Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg. She delves into engineering, revenue sharing agreements and Red Bull’s recent domination and its effect on competition and viewership.

The program also examines the fan experience with a look at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is expected to be the most expensive event for spectators on this year’s F1 schedule. Eisen also interviews F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff with a focus on female drivers.

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Francis Ford Coppola Thinks 'Megalopolis' Outweighs Ordinary Film Ideas

Francis Ford Coppola attends the premiere of "Megalopolis" on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at AMC Lincoln Square in New York. (AP)
Francis Ford Coppola attends the premiere of "Megalopolis" on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at AMC Lincoln Square in New York. (AP)
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Francis Ford Coppola Thinks 'Megalopolis' Outweighs Ordinary Film Ideas

Francis Ford Coppola attends the premiere of "Megalopolis" on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at AMC Lincoln Square in New York. (AP)
Francis Ford Coppola attends the premiere of "Megalopolis" on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at AMC Lincoln Square in New York. (AP)

Renowned American director Francis Ford Coppola believes his harshly criticized science fiction film “Megalopolis” offers audiences a unique narrative vastly different from what they are accustomed to seeing.

"We're so used to seeing movies that are like other movies because they're financed that way,” Coppola told Reuters during a Zoom interview while he was at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film was also screened.

"It's [movies like other movies] always something that's already proven that it will make money. It's like a potato chip that you know is habit forming and 'Megalopolis' is new,” he added.

After debuting this year at the Cannes Film Festival, Coppola's $120 million self-funded project is going to be shared with broader audiences when it arrives to US movie theaters on Friday.

While the film will be distributed by Lionsgate, Coppola maintains ownership of the movie.

Adam Driver stars as Cesar Catilina, an architect-scientist who wants to better a fictional version of New York City called New Rome, pitting him against Mayor Franklyn Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who prizes authority and institutions over change.

Catilina falls in love with the mayor's daughter, Julia, played by "Game of Thrones"' Nathalie Emmanuel, as she helps him work towards his vision and re-ignites his power to stop time.

When asked if “Megalopolis” is an allegory for his film-making journey, the 85-year-old director said, “All of my films are.”

“When I was young and made 'The Godfather,'” I had to be like Michael [Michael Corleone] because I had no power and I had to be very Machiavellian. When I made 'Apocalypse Now,' I was in an absurd situation with helicopters and millions of dollars every week that I was paying for, so I had to become a megalomaniac like Kurtz [Colonel Kurtz]. You know, I have always become the characters in my movies just to survive,” he added.

While the press response to the movie has been poor with a low score of 51% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Driver believes “Megalopolis” is a film that needs more than one viewing to be truly absorbed.

"I think it does have legs and I think it is something that you want to return to and can return to and mine something else out of it," Driver said. "And it, you know, has a place in people's minds as being one of a kind, which I don't think a lot of films can say that, you know."