“Ford v Ferrari” crossed a major box office milestone on Monday, surpassing $200 million in global ticket sales.
20th Century Fox’s racing drama joins a number of this year’s original films — including Lionsgate’s “Knives Out,” Universal’s “Us,” “Sony’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” STX’s “Hustlers” and Paramount’s “Rocketman” — that helped prove fresh ideas can still be a theatrical draw in an era where superhero adventures and remakes of popular movies reign supreme.
Directed by James Mangold and starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, “Ford v Ferrari” collected $106.6 million in the U.S. after spending seven weeks in the top 10 on domestic box office charts.
Outside of the States, the movie scored in Russia ($10.1 million), France ($9.4 million), Korea ($9.3 million) and the United Kingdom ($7.9 million). It debuts in Japan on Jan. 10, while a China release date has not been secured.
The box office benchmark is significant for Disney, which inherited the movie after acquiring Fox’s film assets. The studio’s 2019 slate was largely filled with sequels, follow-ups and reboots that essentially dominated box office charts. But the success of “Ford v Ferrari” demonstrates that the studio can still deliver on all-audience offerings that don’t hail from existing franchises. That’s something Disney will have to focus more on in the future as it wrapped some of its biggest brands this year, such as “Star Wars,” “Toy Story” and “Avengers.”
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“Ford v Ferrari” has been embraced by critics and audiences alike and could find itself in the Oscar race come February. The movie 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.