The sports drama leads far ahead of runner-up and last week's champion 'Midway', while the Kristen Stewart-led action comedy has a disappointing debut at No. 3.
- November 18, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Ford v Ferrari" comes out as a dark horse at this weekend's box office race. The sports drama outpaces its competitors, including last week's winner "Midway", to top the North American chart with an estimated $31 million.
Directed by James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, the sports drama debuted ahead of expectations, thanks to strong word-of-mouth from moviegoers. The film holds an approval rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating majorly favorable reviews. Audiences seemed to agree, giving it a rare grade of A+ on CinemaScore.
"We knew it was a real crowd pleaser," says Cathleen Taff, Disney's president of global distribution. "With the caliber of talent from director James Mangold and starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, it felt like a must-see movie. We're thrilled to see it breaking out."
The movie, which was made on a $97.6 million budget, slightly exceeded industry estimates at $23-30 million. Internationally, "Ford v Ferrari" made $21.4 million over the weekend for current a worldwide total of $52.4 million.
"Ford v Ferrari" leaves the runner-up "Midway" way behind as the World War II drama added an estimated $8.8 million on its second weekend. The Roland Emmerich-directed movie also scored an unexpected win last week following the lackluster performance of "Doctor Sleep".
This week, "Charlie's Angels" suffered the same fate as "Doctor Sleep" and "Terminator: Dark Fate". Initially expected to finish anywhere from $12-13 million on its first weekend, the third installment of the action comedy franchise failed to hit double digits with only approximately $8.6 million to debut at No. 3.
Internationally, it didn't deliver an impressive result either, collecting $19.3 million from 26 market for a worldwide total of $26.1 million so far. It now relies on the international box office to recoup its $48 million budget.
"Playing with Fire" falls one spot to No. 4 with an estimated $8.55 million, while "Last Christmas" also loses one place to round out the top five with approximately $6.7 million.
Top Ten Movies at Weekend Box Office for Nov. 15-17:
- "Ford v Ferrari" - $31 million
- "Midway" - $8.8 million
- "Charlie's Angels" - $ 8.6 million
- "Playing with Fire" - $8.55 million
- "Last Christmas" - $6.7 million
- "Doctor Sleep" - $6.2 million
- "The Good Liar" - $5.65 million
- "Joker" - $5.6 million
- "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" - $5.2 million
- "Harriet" - $4.8 million
