“Ford v Ferrari” left its box office competitors in the dust as Disney’s historical sports drama sped its way to $31 million in North America.
Directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, “Ford v Ferrari” debuted ahead of expectations, thanks to strong word-of-mouth from moviegoers. However, those ticket sales weren’t enough to offset disappointing starts from fellow high-profile newcomers, “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Good Liar,” pushing the domestic box office down over 6% from last year, according to Comscore.
Sony’s action comedy “Charlie’s Angels” sputtered out of the gate with an uninspiring $8.6 million, landing in third place behind Lions gate’s war drama “Midway” ($8.75 million) and just head of Paramount’s family film “Playing With Fire” ($8.5million).
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ thriller “The Good Liar” barely cracked the top 10, collecting just $5.6 million from 2 439 theaters.
“Ford v Ferrari” enticed a mostly older male crowd: Men accounted for 62% of ticket buyers, while nearly 80% were over the age of 25.
Audiences awarded the film with a rare A+Cinema Score, a sign that the racing drama should have a long life in theaters.
Produced by Chernin Entertainment, the movie carries a $100 million price tag and will need a boost from international moviegoers to turn a profit. “Ford v Ferrari” launched with $21 million at the foreign box office this weekend, lifting its global tally to $52.4 million.
“Ford v Ferrari” tells the true story of the automotive team at Ford, led by designer Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his British driver Ken Miles (Bale), as they build a race car attempting to beat the legendary Ferrari in the prestigious Le Mans race.
“Charlie’s Angels” arrived well behind domestic box office projections (the studio was anticipating a start closer to $13 million) and will now rely on overseas audiences to help recoup its $48 million production budget.
“The Good Liar” bowed in eighth place, failing to be much of a draw among its core audience. Over 60% of moviegoers were above 50-years-old, a demographic that doesn’t routinely turn up in force on opening weekend. But mediocre reviews, along with a B Cinema Score, doesn’t bode well for its future in multiplexes.
This weekend,”Joker” officially became the first R-rated movie in history to gross over $1 billion at the global box office.
All the more impressive, it’s only the third movie ever to reach that milestone without a release in China, one of the world’s biggest movie going markets.
