On December 25, 2023, Michael Mann‘s highly-anticipated Ferrari landed in movie theaters. Set during the summer of 1957, the movie doesn’t follow the typical biopic format. Instead, it focuses on a particular time in Enzo Ferrari’s life as he faces both professional and personal struggles.
The result of such charting material serves up a thrilling ride that blends drama, action, and poignant themes of families and relationships. With Adam Driver at the forefront and Michael Mann helming the director’s chair, Ferrari has begun dazzling audiences worldwide. However, after a slow opening, this leaves the question as to whether the movie will be considered a box office triumph in its next few weeks of showings.
Ferrari Has Grossed $14.6 Million Worldwide
Considering that the movie has faced mild backlash for its use of CGI, many will argue that the power of the movie lies within its story. However, whether you are dazzled by the CGI usage or think it is overblown, it’s still impressive to see that it was pulled off on a budget of $95 million. In today’s standards, for a major studio movie, $95 million is a rather modest budget. However, aside from Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, the cast of the movie isn’t packed full of A-listers. Of course, there are many talented and upcoming thespians in the movie, like Jack O’Connell and Shailene Woodley, but these actors are not yet stars who can demand huge salaries. So, this leaves producers hoping on a huge return on their meagre budget. Yet, over a week into its release, Ferrari has not yet delivered.
After opening in US theaters on Christmas day, Ferrari kicked off on a worrying note. Across 2386 theaters, the movie closed out its first week with a 4-day domestic total of $6.8 million, which is a meek 7% of the film’s budget. In the UK, the movie opened a day later on December 26, 2023. As the movie has rolled out into worldwide territory, it has drawn in $2,587,306 internationally by January 1, 2024. Combined with a domestic haul of $12,070,617, this puts Ferrari‘s worldwide gross to date at $14,657,923.
However, many could speculate that Ferrari hasn’t taken off in the UK as moviegoers may be waiting for the upcoming home release. This is because Sky have taken on the picture as a Sky Original, meaning Sky members can watch the movie as part of their subscription in the coming months. However, the official home release date is yet to be confirmed.
Unveiling The Box Office Competition of Ferrari
As the New Year drew in, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom managed to claw back some earnings after a disappointing opening, currently sitting at a worldwide gross of $258.3 million. However, Wonka has rose triumphant, moving back to the top spot after its release on December 15, 2023. As of now, the Warner Bros. origin story, which stars the electrifying Timothée Chalamet, is sitting at a worldwide gross of $387,162,717. This already marks a massive return on the movie’s budget of $125 million.
However, Wonka isn’t the only movie to outshine Ferrari. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, The Colour Purple debuted on December 25 and has been performing better than anticipated. It earned an estimated $14.9 million over the course of its four-day run at No. 4 on the New Year’s weekend list. Furthermore, up until January 1, 2024, the movie’s estimated domestic total stands at an astounding $47.2 million.
Is Michael Mann’s Ferrari a Critical Success?
Michael Mann is undoubtedly one of the most respected filmmakers in cinema. With a career spanning over 4 decades, his portfolio is rather modest for such a seasoned professional. However, as a result, his movies are normally epic and large scale productions. As well as a penchant for crime, ie Heat and Public Enemies, Mann also shines within the biopic genre. In 2001, Mann directed the Muhammad Ali biopic, aptly titled Ali. The movie gained critical acclaim including two Oscar nominations, however, it failed to make a return on its $100 million budget. This seems to be the case once again with Ferrari.
As of the time of this writing, Ferrari holds a 73% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. This is based on 179 critic reviews. What’s more, the movie is currently sitting at 73/100 on Metascore. So, it can’t exactly be argued that a weak critical reception is hurting the box office numbers of the biopic. Given that Mann failed to return on Ali‘s budget back in 2001, it now makes sense why the studio only granted him a $95 million budget this time around. However, the movie still has time to prevail, especially as it gets a wider release and becomes available for home streaming.
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