‘Ford V Ferrari’ Will Win The Race Against ‘Charlie’s Angels’ With $23M-$30M Start – Early B.O. Projection

James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari, which is winning over crowds and critics in early screenings since its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, is looking at a solid start in the $23 million-$30 million range, per early tracking, when the Disney-Fox/Chernin Entertainment pic opens in theaters November 15.

The movie, which stars Matt Damon as car designer Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as renegade auto driver Ken Miles as the pair go to work for Ford in their square-off against Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans race, looks best with guys. The film runs at 2 hours and 32 minutes, and it’s a fast clip.

On the downside, Sony’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels, directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska, is off to a very slow start in forecasts, ideal now with young females but right now at $16M, with the studio seeing lower between $12M-$13M for what is being reported as a $48M net production. The first 2000 movie, with Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, opened to $40.1M, with the 2003 sequel Full Throttle debuting to $37.6M.

Sometimes pics arrive low on tracking because a studio hasn’t unleashed its full TV spot blitzkreig, however, social media and online trailer play have plenty to do with the diagnostics — hence, the early Charlie’s Angels number isn’t good. Also, statistically speaking, reboots with fresh casts often open lower than the original movie. The studio hopes that the film catches a wave from the Thanksgiving multiple. Originally, Charlie’s Angels was going to go on the first weekend of November like its original 2000 film, but it was pushed off by Paramount/Skydance Media/Fox’s Terminator: Dark Fate. On November 15, Charlie’s Angels will have access to Imax and PLFs.

New Line/Bron Studios’ Helen Mirren-Ian McKellen drama thriller The Good Liar is seeing only $6M, but this is a pic for the 50-plus crowd and they come out slowly to the theater. Hence, there’s hope for the pic overindexing.