Michael Mann's Ferrari Is In Serious Trouble At The Box Office
The Christmas and New Year's box office capped off 2023 with a hefty unexpected bounty. Despite not having a single outright mega-blockbuster hit like "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or "Avatar: The Way of Water" like 2021 and 2022 had, the overall final frame of the year was big enough to push the final domestic tally for the year past the $9 billion mark. A unique aspect of the most recent week was that we had a slew of movies — "Wonka," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," "The Color Purple," and "Migration," among others — carrying the load. The love was spread around, which was very nice to see. Unfortunately, that love did not extend to Michael Mann's "Ferrari," which now finds itself in a precarious situation financially.
Released in theaters on Christmas Day, Mann's first movie since 2015's "Blackhat" did not find much of an audience. The film, a biopic about legendary car-maker Enzo Ferrari (played by Adam Driver), made just $3.9 million over the weekend, coming in at number eight on the charts behind A24's "The Iron Claw" ($5 million), per The Numbers. Thus far, "Ferrari" has racked up $11.8 million domestically to go with $4 million overseas for a grand total just shy of $16 million. The big, looming problem here is the movie's $95 million production budget. Needless to say, the film's distributor NEON is hoping for a miraculous turn of events in the coming weeks.
Even people who don't follow the box office closely would surely understand that less than $12 million in the first week of release for a film that cost that much to make is not good. The only reason I'm remotely hesitant to call it an outright flop just yet is because January has so few likely hits on the calendar that legs are possible here. Especially since the movie is still slated to hit many key overseas markets in the coming weeks.
Michael Mann's rough commercial track record
Still, to say the film now has a tough road ahead would be a dramatic understatement. It certainly doesn't help that 2019's "Ford v Ferrari" made $225 million worldwide just a few years ago. Nor did it likely help that Sony's "Gran Turismo" recently gave audiences the chance to scratch that racing movie itch. The real pity is that Mann is a legendary filmmaker with classics such as "Thief" and "The Insider" to his name, with this being a passion project that he wanted to bring to life for decades. To have it crash and burn like this in the early going is nothing shy of tragic. Particularly in light of the very solid reviews the film has received (read our review here).
Mann is, sad to say, a filmmaker who has had a troubled road when it comes to commercial success over the last 20 years and change. He hasn't had an outright box office hit since "Collateral" ($217 million worldwide/$60 million budget) in 2004, with "Miami Vice" ($165 million worldwide/$135 million budget), "Public Enemies" ($212 million worldwide/$102 million budget), and "Blackhat" ($20 million worldwide/$70 million budget) all disappointing financially. I say this as someone who counts him among my personal favorite directors, making this a tough pill to swallow.
Making matters worse, Mann's "Ali" ($87 million worldwide/$109 million budget) and "The Insider" ($60 million worldwide/$68 million budget) also misfired in 2001 and 1999. Before that, his most recent hit had been 1995's "Heat" ($187 million worldwide/$60 million budget). Will that help Mann get "Heat 2" made? Perhaps. But the fact that "Ferrari" has failed to generate much interest with the general public certainly isn't going to help him convince anyone to finance the venture. Alas, Mann remains a heralded filmmaker with expensive tastes who can't seem to get audiences to show up en masse for many of his movies.
"Ferrari" is in theaters now.