Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt could be set to star together in a crossover sequel between F1 and the 1990 film Days of Thunder

But he admitted such a project would be difficult to realise, saying: "A reporter asked me a question and said, 'If you could make a movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, what would that movie be?'

"And I just kind of threw out this idea that Sonny Hayes comes back to the world of F1 and bumps into his old rival, Cole Trickle, who raced NASCAR in the '90s, and they cross paths again.

"I just thought that would be a really great story, but probably impossible to make. Talk about Mission: Impossible. That would be a tricky, tricky film to pull off."

It has been more than three decades since Brad, 61, and Tom, 63, last worked together in 1994's Interview With the Vampire, based on the novel by Anne Rice.

Joseph revealed he had previously tried to unite the two stars on screen, with plans for them to appear in Go Like Hell, a racing drama that eventually became Ford v Ferrari, released in 2019.

The film was ultimately released with Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the lead roles.

Joseph, famed for directing Tom's Top Gun: Maverick, recalled: "I actually did do a table read for a movie called Go Like Hell, which became Ford v Ferrari.

"I was developing that with both of them in it for a while, and I did a script read-through at Tom's house with Brad, the three of us together. So, that was pretty surreal.

"Then Tom was very kind to come to the F1 premiere in London, so it was a chance to see the two of them together again.

"But yeah, that would be amazing if we could figure out a way to get them both in the same film."

Joseph said the strong box office performance of F1, which has become the highest-grossing film of Brad's career, left him relieved.

He added: "Anytime a film works, it's, for me, just a sigh of relief, you know? Because you just never know what's going to happen. You just never know.

"You have no sense of how a movie is going to play until the movie opens. So, it's been great to see how the film has been received."