| Ford v Ferrari | |
|---|---|
.png) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Mangold |
| Written by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 152 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $97.6 million[1] |
| Box office | $225.5 million[3][1] |
Ford v Ferrari (titledLe Mans '66 in some European countries)[4] is a 2019 Americanbiographicalsports drama film directed byJames Mangold and written byJez Butterworth,John-Henry Butterworth, andJason Keller. It starsMatt Damon andChristian Bale, withJon Bernthal,Caitríona Balfe,Tracy Letts,Josh Lucas,Noah Jupe,Remo Girone, andRay McKinnon in supporting roles. The plot follows a determined team of American and English engineers and designers, led by automotive designerCarroll Shelby and his English driver,Ken Miles, who are hired byHenry Ford II andLee Iacocca to build a race car to defeat the perennially dominant Italian racing teamScuderia Ferrari at the1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France.
Ford v Ferrari had its world premiere at theTelluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 15, 2019, by20th Century Fox to critical and commercial success; critics praised the performances (particularly Bale and Damon), Mangold's direction, the editing, the sound design and the racing sequences, and it was chosen by theNational Board of Review as one of the ten best films of the year. At the92nd Academy Awards, the film received four nominations, includingBest Picture, and wonBest Film Editing andBest Sound Editing.[5][6] Bale also received nominations for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Drama and theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.[7][8]
In 1963,Ford Motor Company vice presidentLee Iacocca proposes toHenry Ford II to boost their car sales by purchasingFerrari, dominant in the24 Hours of Le Mans. OwnerEnzo Ferrari uses Ford's offer to secure a deal withFiat that allows him to retain ownership of the firm's racing team,Scuderia Ferrari, and insults Ford and his whole company. This leads Ford into ordering his racing division to build a car to compete against Ferrari at Le Mans and Iacocca hiringShelby American ownerCarroll Shelby, a retired driver who wonLe Mans in 1959. Shelby enlists his friendKen Miles, a hot-tempered English racing driver and mechanical engineer.
Shelby and Miles develop the UK-builtFord GT40 Mk I prototype atLos Angeles International Airport while the latter gives advice on how to enhance the car's performance. At the launch of the newFord Mustang, Miles gives a witheringly rude appraisal of it to Ford senior vice president Leo Beebe. Beebe campaigns against sending Miles to theupcoming race at Le Mans as a public relations liability. Shelby reluctantly excludes Miles and sendsPhil Hill andBruce McLaren to Le Mans; none of the Fords finish. Miles, who is listening on radio, realizes that he was right on all the car's flaws.
When Ford demands why he should not sack Shelby, Shelby explains that despite the GT40's reliability problems, it instilled fear in Enzo Ferrari by reaching 218 mph (350.8km/h) on theMulsanne Straight before breaking down. He says a race car cannot be designed by committee. Ford tells him to continue the project and report directly to him. During testing of theGT40 Mk II, the recurrent problem ofbrake fade causes a crash and fire, which Miles survives. The team realizes the rules permit replacing the whole brake assembly during the race.
In 1966, Beebe takes over the racing division. When he and Ford arrive to inspect the program, Shelby locks Beebe in his office and gives Ford a ride in the GT40. Shelby makes an agreement with Ford: if Miles wins the24 Hours of Daytona, then he will race at Le Mans. If not, Ford will take full ownership of Shelby American. AtDaytona International Speedway, Beebe enters a second GT40 supported by aNASCAR team with quicker pit stops. However, Shelby clears Miles to push his car beyond the 7,000RPM redline, and he wins.
At thenext race at Le Mans, Miles struggles with a faulty door during the first lap. The pit crew fixes it, and Miles sets lap records, catching the Ferraris. The GT40 suffers brake fade while dicing with the prototype330 P3 Ferrari ofLorenzo Bandini, so Miles limps into the pits for replacement of the entire braking system. Ferrari protests, but Shelby assures race officials it is legal.
Miles and Bandini duel on the Mulsanne Straight until the Ferrari breaks down, putting Bandini out of the race. With Fords in the top three positions, Beebe orders Shelby to have Miles slow down for the other Fords to catch him and give the press a three-carphoto finish. Shelby tells Miles what Beebe wants but says it is Miles's call. Miles initially continues to set new lap records but decides to comply on the final lap.
McLaren is declared the winner as, having started behind Miles, his car traveled farther overall. Miles is placed second. Shelby accuses Beebe of deliberately costing Miles the win, but an unusually sanguine Miles lets it pass, saying to Shelby, "You promised me the drive, not the win." From his vantage point, Enzo Ferrari tips his hat to Miles on the track. As they walk off together, Shelby tells Miles they will win Le Mans next time.
Two months later, Miles is killed in a crash while testing theJ-car atRiverside International Raceway. Six months later, Shelby parks outside Miles's widow Mollie's house and hesitates. Miles's son Peter arrives, and the two talk about Miles. Shelby gives Peter a wrench that Miles once threw at him in anger.
A textual epilogue reveals that Ford continued its Le Mans winning streak in1967,1968, and1969, and Miles was posthumously inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.
A film based on the rivalry betweenFord andFerrari for the dominance at the Le Mans endurance race had long been in works at20th Century Fox. Initially, it was going to starTom Cruise andBrad Pitt from an original screenplay titledGo Like Hell, byJason Keller, the name being taken from the book,Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, andTheir Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans byA. J. Baime. However, after writersJez Butterworth andJohn-Henry Butterworth drafted a script andJoseph Kosinski was brought on to direct, the project fell apart due to the budget being too high.[9][10][11][12] Cruise also left the project as he wouldn't be driving that much in the film.[13]
On February 5, 2018, it was announced thatJames Mangold had been brought on board to direct the film based on the previous script by Keller and the Butterworths.[14] Later,Caitríona Balfe,Jon Bernthal, andNoah Jupe joined the cast alongsideChristian Bale andMatt Damon in the lead roles.[15][16]
In July 2018,Jack McMullen was cast in the film to play one of Miles's key British mechanics, andTracy Letts also joined to playHenry Ford II, along with Joe Williamson.[17][18][19] In August 2018,JJ Feild was cast in the film to play the automotive engineerRoy Lunn, the head of Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations in England and the right-hand man toHenry Ford II.[20] Mangold approachedHarrison Ford for a part in the film; they would later go on to collaborate inThe Call of the Wild andIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.[21]
ComposerMarco Beltrami confirmed in an interview that he would be scoring the film, Beltrami having previously worked with Mangold on3:10 to Yuma,The Wolverine andLogan.[22][23]
Filming began on July 30, 2018, and lasted for 67 days, taking place in California;New Orleans, Louisiana;Atlanta;Savannah; andStatesboro, Georgia, as well asLe Mans, France.[24][25]
Race scenes that appear in the film asDaytona were filmed atAuto Club Speedway inFontana; many other race scenes were filmed at a Honda test track inMojave Valley, on the Big Willow road course atWillow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond,Road Atlanta, Grand Prize of America Ave SavannahHutchinson Island, and at the Porsche Experience inCarson (for theDearborn test track).
A few scenes were filmed at tracks and roadways in Georgia such as Hwy 46 inStatesboro, Georgia.[26] The Le Mans grandstands, pits, and garages were replicated at theAgua Dulce Airpark inAgua Dulce. The hangar area where the cars were developed (originally at LAX) was filmed atOntario International Airport inOntario, California.[27]
Ford v Ferrari premiered at theTelluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019,[28][29] and screened at theToronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2019.[30] It was subsequently released in the United States on November 15.[31] It was previously scheduled to be released on June 28.[32]
The first trailer for the film debuted on June 2, 2019, during Game 2 of the2019 NBA Finals.[33]
The film was released on digital format by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on January 28, 2020, and on4K Ultra HDBlu-ray andDVD on February 11, 2020.[34]
Ford v Ferrari grossed $117.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $107.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $225.5 million.[1]
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongsideCharlie's Angels andThe Good Liar, and was projected to gross $23–30 million from 3,528 theaters in its opening weekend.[35] It made $10.9 million on its first day, including $2.1 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $31.5 million, topping the box office.[36] In its second weekend the film dropped 50% to $15.7 million, finishing second behind newcomerFrozen 2, and then made $13.2 million in its third weekend (including $19 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame), finishing third.[37][38] It continued to hold well in the following weeks, making $6.7 million and $4.1 million in its fourth and fifth weekends.[39][40]
On review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 364 reviews, with an average rating of 7.80/10. 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."[41]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[42] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+," while those atPostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 87% (with an average 4.5 out of 5 stars), with 68% saying they would definitely recommend it.[36]
Mick LaSalle ofSan Francisco Chronicle gave the film four out of four stars, saying that it "is what it promises to be, a blast from the past" and writing: "Ford v Ferrari could have just been a sports story, dramatizing an interesting chapter in racing, and it would have been fine. But in showing Ford and his minions' constant interference in the dedicated work of Miles and Shelby, this James Mangold film becomes a tale of souls battling the soulless."[43]
Eric Kohn ofIndiewire gave the film a "B", saying that "Ford v Ferrari excels at evoking the sheer thrill of the race—'a body moving through space and time', as one character says—and it's compelling enough in those moments to make the case that nothing beats the thrill of competition."[44]
Variety's Peter DeBruge praised the racing sequences and the performances of Bale and Damon, writing: "The best sports movies aren't so much about the sport as they are the personalities, and these two go big with their performances."[45]
In 2025,The Hollywood Reporter listedFord v Ferrari as having the best stunts of 2019.[46]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AACTA Awards | November 30, 2020 | Best Visual Effects or Animation | Olivier Dumont, Kathy Siegel, Malte Sarnes, Mark Byers, and Matt Grieg | Nominated | [47] [48] |
| AACTA International Awards | January 3, 2020 | Best International Actor | Christian Bale | Nominated | [49] |
| AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards | January 19, 2020 | Best Buddy Picture | Ford v Ferrari | Nominated | [50] |
| Academy Awards | February 9, 2020 | Best Picture | Peter Chernin,Jenno Topping,James Mangold | Nominated | [51] |
| Best Film Editing | Michael McCusker,Andrew Buckland | Won | |||
| Best Sound Editing | Donald Sylvester | Won | |||
| Best Sound Mixing | Paul Massey,David Giammarco andSteven A. Morrow | Nominated | |||
| ACE Eddie Awards | January 17, 2019 | Best Edited Feature Film (Drama) | Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker | Nominated | [52] |
| Art Directors Guild Awards | February 1, 2020 | Excellence in Production Design (Period Film) | François Audouy | Nominated | [53] |
| American Society of Cinematographers | January 25, 2019 | Best Cinematography (Theatrical) | Phedon Papamichael | Nominated | [54] |
| British Academy Film Awards | February 2, 2020 | Best Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael | Nominated | [55] |
| Best Editing | Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland | Won | |||
| Best Sound | David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow and Donald Sylvester | Nominated | |||
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | January 25, 2020 | Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action | Ford v Ferrari | Won | [56] |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | January 12, 2020 | Best Picture | Nominated | [57] | |
| Best Action Movie | Nominated | ||||
| Best Visual Effects | Nominated | ||||
| Best Editing | Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael | Nominated | |||
| Camerimage | November 16, 2019 | Golden Frog | Phedon Papamichael(cinematographer), James Mangold(director) | Nominated | [58] [59] |
| Golden Globe Awards | January 5, 2020 | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | Christian Bale | Nominated | [60] |
| Golden Reel Awards | January 19, 2020 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR | Donald Sylvester and Polly McKinnon | Nominated | [61] [62] |
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Effects and Foley | Donald Sylvester, Jay Wilkenson, David Giammarco, Eric Norris and Anna MacKenzie | Won | |||
| Golden Trailer Awards | July 22, 2021 | Best Drama TV Spot (for a Feature Film) | "Run Free" (Lindeman & Associates) | Nominated | [63] |
| Best Home Ent Drama | "Awards :30" (Aspect Ratio) | Nominated | |||
| "Target Wall" (Aspect Ratio) | Nominated | ||||
| BestBTS/EPK for a Feature Film (Under 2 Minutes) | "Underdog" (Big Picture) | Nominated | |||
| Hollywood Critics Association Awards | January 9, 2020 | Best Editing | Michael McCusker | Nominated | [64] |
| Hollywood Film Awards | November 3, 2019 | Hollywood Director Award | James Mangold | Won | [65] |
| Hollywood Editor Award | Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland | Won | |||
| Hollywood Sound Award | Donald Sylvester,Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow | Won | |||
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 19, 2019 | Original Score – Feature Film | Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders(tied withHildur Guðnadóttir forJoker) | Won | [66] |
| Movieguide Awards | January 24, 2020 | Best Movie for Mature Audiences | Ford v Ferrari | Nominated | [67] |
| Producers Guild of America Award | January 18, 2020 | Best Theatrical Motion Picture | Peter Chernin,Jenno Topping and James Mangold | Nominated | [68] |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | December 9, 2019 | Best Actor | Christian Bale | Nominated | [69] |
| Best Editing | Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker | Won | |||
| Best Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael | Nominated | |||
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle | December 16, 2019 | Best Editing | Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker | Won | [70][71] |
| Satellite Awards | December 19, 2019 | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Ford v Ferrari | Won | [72] |
| Best Director | James Mangold | Won | |||
| Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | Christian Bale | Won | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | Jez Butterworth,John-Henry Butterworth andJason Keller | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Score | Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael | Nominated | |||
| Best Visual Effects | Olivier Dumont, Mark Byers and Kathy Segal | Nominated | |||
| Best Editing | Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland | Won | |||
| Best Sound | Donald Sylvester, Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow | Won | |||
| Best Art Direction and Production Design | François Audouy andPeter Lando | Nominated | |||
| Screen Actors Guild Award | January 19, 2020 | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Christian Bale | Nominated | [73] |
| Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture | Ford v Ferrari | Nominated | |||
| Seattle Film Critics Society | December 16, 2019 | Best Picture of the Year | Nominated | [74][75] | |
| Best action choreography | Nominated | ||||
| Visual Effects Society Awards | January 29, 2020 | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature | Olivier Dumont, Kathy Siegel, Dave Morley, Malte Sarnes, Mark Byers | Nominated | [76] |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | December 8, 2019 | Best Editing | Andrew Buckland and Michael McCusker | Won | [77] |
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