(Associated Press) āFord v Ferrariā left its competition in the rearview, racing to an estimated $31 million debut at the box office in a No. 1 finish that counted as a win for big-budget originality.
James Mangoldās racing drama rode into the weekend with strong reviews and Oscar buzz for its leads, Christian Bale and Matt Damon. And audiences enthusiastically greeted it, giving the $98 million movie an A+ CinemaScore. āFord v Ferrari,ā which dramatizes the Ford Motor Co.ās push to unseat the perennial power Ferrari at Franceās 24-hour Les Mans race in 1966, has been considered a rare kind of high-priced throwback built more on story, practical effects and star power than intellectual property.
Elizabeth Banksā āCharlieās Angelsā reboot couldnāt keep up. The Sony Pictures release opened below expectations with $8.6 million domestically and $19.3 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. Though the movie was relatively modestly budgeted at $48 million, it fell well short of the $40.1 million debut of the 2000ās āCharlieās Angels,ā with Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. (The 2003 sequel opened similarly with $37.6 million.)
Banksā version of the 1976-1981 TV series gave the material a feminist spin. But Kristen Stewart was the sole widely known Angel, starring alongside Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. And āCharlieās Angelsā couldnāt best the World War II movie āMidwayā in its second week. It slotted in just ahead of āAngelsā in second, with $8.8 million.
Lately, at least, Hollywoodās efforts to dust off old intellectual property have been received with a shrug by moviegoers. November has already seen disappointing debuts for the Paramount Pictures sequel āTerminator: Dark Fateā ($56.9 million in three weeks) and Warner Bros.ā āThe Shiningā riff, āDoctor Sleepā ($25 million in two weeks).
That made the initial success of āFord v Ferrariā stand out even more. The Walt Disney Co. releaseās opening weekend, which included $21.4 million internationally, has several laps to go before reaching profitability. But as an adult-oriented action film with excellent audience scores and awards attention, āFord v Ferrariā is likely to play well for weeks to come.
āWe knew that it was a real crowd-pleaser. Anywhere we played it, whether at festivals or screenings, people have come out responding so positively to it. We knew that we had a little jewel here,ā said Cathleen Taff, Disneyās distribution chief. āJames Mangold and the Fox team, combined with the talent behind it ā Matt and Christian ā itās just a great, exciting, ambitious film. Itās exactly what you want to see on the big screen.ā
āFord v Ferrari,ā made by 20th Century Fox before the companyās acquisition by Disney, is the biggest Fox hit yet released by Disney. Much of the studioās previous Fox output, including āStuberā and the X-Men film āDark Phoenix,ā has flopped. The āFord v Ferrariā release comes sandwiched between two major Disney initiatives ā the recently launched Disney+ streaming service, and the upcoming āFrozen 2ā release.
Warner Bros.ā āThe Good Liar,ā a mystery starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, was the weekendās other new wide release. It managed a modest $5.7 million, adding to a string of underperforming adult-targeting releases for the studio, including āBlinded by the Light,ā āThe Goldfinchā and āThe Kitchen.ā
Those disappointments all pale, though, to the Warner success āJoker.ā On Friday, it passed $1 billion worldwide.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, applauded āFord v Ferrariā as a quintessential crowd-pleaser, but noted the industry needs much more gas to chase down a 6.2% deficit to last yearās total domestic box office. This weekend, down 37% from the same weekend last year, didnāt help, either.
āāFord v Ferrari may have won the race this weekend, but the industry is still trying to get out of neutral,ā Dergarabedian said. āWe need āFrozenā to thaw out this box office.ā