Ford v Ferrari is a new movie by director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan). Starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon.
The film is about the 24-Hour racing event in Le Mans, France, in 1966. It chornicles the mission of building a new racing car by Ford that can dominate the Ferrari racing team in the race.
So let’s dig into some unknowns about the new film!
- Ford v Ferrari is a 2019 American sports drama film
- The movie is titled Le Mans ’66 in the UK and other territories
- It is directed by James Mangold
- It is written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller
- It stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale
- While Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, and Ray McKinnon appear in supporting roles
- The plot follows an eccentric, determined team of American engineers and designers
- Led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver, Ken Miles
- They are dispatched by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca with the mission of building the Ford GT40, a new racing car with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France
- In early stages of the film’s production, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were cast in the starring roles
- But those plans fell through
- Mangold was then hired in February 2018
- Damon, Bale, and the rest of the cast joined that summer
- Filming began in July 2018 in California
- It lasted a little over two months
- Ford v Ferrari had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019
- It is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on November 15, 2019, by 20th Century Fox
- The film received positive reviews from critics
- Critics lauded the performances and racing sequences
- A film based on the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari for the dominance at the Le Mans endurance race has long been in works at 20th Century Fox
- Initially, it was going to star Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt from an original screenplay by Jason Keller
- But the project fell apart after writers Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth drafted a script
- Joseph Kosinski was brought on to direct
- On February 5, 2018, it was announced that James Mangold had been brought on board to direct the film
- Based on the previous script by Jason Keller, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth
- Later, Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, and Noah Jupe joined the cast
- Alongside Christian Bale and Matt Damon in the lead roles
- In July 2018, Jack McMullen was cast in the film to play one of Miles’s key British mechanics
- Tracy Letts also joined to play Henry Ford II
- Along with Joe Williamson
- In August 2018, JJ Feild was cast in the film to play the automotive engineer Roy Lunn, the head of Ford Advanced vehicles in England and the right-hand man to Henry Ford II
- Composer Marco Beltrami confirmed in an interview that he would be scoring the film
- Beltrami have previously worked with Mangold on 3:10 to Yuma, The Wolverine and Logan
- Filming began on July 30, 2018
- It lasted for 67 days
- It took place in California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Atlanta; Savannah; and Statesboro, Georgia
- As well as Le Mans, France
- In the United States and Canada, Ford v Ferrari will be released alongside Charlie’s Angels and The Good Liar
- It is projected to gross $23 to 30 million from 3,400 theaters in its opening weekend
- On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91%
- Based on 164 reviews
- With an average rating of 7.55/10
- The website’s critics consensus reads: “Ford v Ferrari delivers all the polished auto action audiences will expect — and balances it with enough gripping human drama to satisfy non-racing enthusiasts”
- Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 79 out of 100
- Based on 35 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
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