Brad Pitt’s Most Physically Challenging Movie Ever Gets Behind-the-Scenes Look

Last year, viewers saw Brad Pitt take to the racetrack for Apple's blockbuster F1 and take part in some of the most intense racing ever shown on-screen. Having satisfied everyone's "need for speed" with his adrenaline-pumping Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski recreated the perspective of being inside a Formula 1 vehicle down to the tiny, split-second decisions that can determine the outcome of a race. That cinematic achievement earned four Oscar nominations and a $634 million global haul to make it the highest-grossing movie of Pitt's career. Yet, the Academy Award-winner's latest blockbuster proved to be similarly realistic and an even greater challenge than stepping behind the wheel of the car himself.

Heart of the Beast released on September 25 and, like F1, became an instant crowd-pleaser. On Rotten Tomatoes, the survival thriller soared to a Certified Fresh 84% score from critics and an even stronger Verified Hot 94% from audiences while raking in a respectable $188 million itself. The film casts Pitt as Special Forces veteran James Belmont, who suffers a heart attack mid-flight that sends him and his traumatized service dog Odin crashing into the Alaskan wilderness. Once partners on the battlefield, they're forced into one final battle with nature itself as they try to defy the elements and make it out of their trek alive. Adding to the story's grounded nature, the methods they use to get by are all based in reality.

Ahead of the film's arrival on digital, Collider can share an exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peek with Pitt, director David Ayer, and the film's bushcraft survivalist advisor, Leif Swensen, that details Heart of the Beast's adherence to real survival techniques. In Swensen, Ayer says they got the best of the best in teaching the skills, as he has around 20 years of experience training America's pilots and other armed forces on what to do in similar life-or-death situations to James'.

His hope was for the story to be an example of good practice when lost in the wilderness, from how to start a fire to navigating a map and dangerous mistakes to avoid. It's also important in selling James as a seasoned former Special Forces officer. Pitt recalled learning all the ins and outs of creating a sustainable fire on short notice, with Swensen giving a particularly crucial lesson within the clip about finding the best, driest wood to burn.

Brad Pitt Believes 'Heart of the Beast' Was His Most Physically Challenging Movie

In an interview with Collider's Joe Schmidt, Pitt called his experience making Heart of the Beast rewarding, but also admitted, "Physically, I would absolutely say this is the hardest movie I've ever made." Having to stay in the perfect state to play James made it a particularly grueling shoot where there was little time to clean up and recover. However, he fully believes living through some of those challenges ultimately made for a better film.

"Well, I mean, on the surface, it’s a survival story, so we’ve got to go through extreme situations. It’s not like we could go back to the trailer and dry off or anything. You get in in the morning, you get wet, and you stay wet all day until the end of the day. There is a drudgery involved in that, but at the same time, I’ve got to say, I believe in it because it informs the scene, it informs the characters, and it informs our movie in the end."

Heart of the Beast reunited Pitt and Ayer over ten years after they collaborated on the World War II epic Fury. It also served as the feature writing debut of Cameron Alexander. With the vast majority of the film focused solely on James and Odin, the screen mostly belonged to Pitt and the several dog actors employed as his loyal German Shepherd companion. However, the survival thriller still had a bit of extra star power between J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe, the latter of whom recently returned to television with North of North Season 2 on Netflix.

Heart of the Beast arrives on digital on Tuesday, November 10. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.