Box office: ‘Ford v Ferrari’ wipes out the competition as ‘Charlie’s Angels’ tanks

This weekend at the box office, Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari” raced to the top as Elizabeth Banks’ “Charlie’s Angels” crashed and burned.

Directed by James Mangold, “Ford v Ferrari” opened in first place with $31 million, well above analyst projections of $20 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore. Despite the strong showing for a film aimed at adults, the overall box office was down versus a year ago for a fifth straight weekend, falling 37.6% short of the same three-day period in 2018 when “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” opened with $62.2 million. The year-to-date total now stands at $9.7 billion, 6.2% below last year.

Starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, the $97-million film takes place in 1966 and tells the real-life story of two men who helped the Ford Motor Co. become the first American company to win Le Mans, the world’s most prestigious sports car race.

Audiences responded with a rare A+ CinemaScore and the film scored a 92% “fresh” rating on movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

At No. 2, Lionsgate’s “Midway” added $8.8 million in its second weekend (a 51% drop) for a cumulative $35.1 million.

In third place, Sony’s rebooted “Charlie’s Angels” opened with $8.6 million, well below modest analyst projections of $12 million to $13 million.

Written, directed by and co-starring Elizabeth Banks, the film features Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott as the new trio of Angels in the Charles Townsend Agency’s now global operation.

The $50-million movie is in the same canon as the ‘70s television series, McG’s 2000 film of the same name and his 2003 sequel, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” It earned a mixed reception with a B+ CinemaScore and a 59% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

At No. 4, Paramount’s “Playing With Fire” added $8.55 million in its second weekend (a 33% drop) for a cumulative $25.5 million.

Rounding out the top five, Universal’s “Last Christmas” added $6.7 million in its second weekend (a 41% drop) for a cumulative $22.6 million.

Movies

Matt Damon and Christian Bale on why you don’t need to love cars to love ‘Ford v Ferrari’

Matt Damon and Christian Bale have made their share of blockbusters, but with “Ford v Ferrari,” they place their bets on an endangered Hollywood species: the adult drama.

Nov. 15, 2019

At No. 6, Warner Bros.’ “Doctor Sleep” added $6.2 million in its second weekend (a 56% drop) for a cumulative $25 million.

At No. 7, the studio’s “The Good Liar” opened with $5.6 million. The movie stars Ian McKellen as a con artist and Helen Mirren as the wealthy widow he’s after. It earned so-so reviews with a B CinemaScore and a 63% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In eighth place, Warner Bros.’ “Joker” added $5.7 million in its seventh weekend for a cumulative $322.6 million, the first R-rated movie to surpass $1 billion in global ticket sales.

At No. 9, Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” added $5.2 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $106 million.

Rounding out the top 10, Focus Features’ “Harriet” added $4.8 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $31.9 million.

In limited release, A24 opened “Waves” in four locations to $144,562 for a strong per-screen average of $36,140.

The film, about a South Florida family, stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. (“Mudbound”), Sterling K. Brown, Lucas Hedges, Alexa Demie and Taylor Russell. It earned positive reviews with a 91% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Amazon opened the political thriller “The Report” with Adam Driver in limited release but said it will not report box office grosses for the film, the first time the studio has done so. It begins streaming on the studio’s Prime Video on Nov. 29. Similarly, Netflix opened awards qualifying runs for “Atlantics” and “I Lost My Body” but the streamer does not report grosses for its films.

Amazon also expanded Shia LaBeouf’s “Honey Boy” into 17 locations in its second weekend (up from four last week) to $210,617 for a per-screen average of $12,389 and a cumulative $584,713.

This week, STX Entertainment opens the Chadwick Boseman cop drama “21 Bridges,” Disney releases the highly anticipated “Frozen II,” Sony reveals “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” featuring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, and Focus Features debuts “Dark Waters.”