By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
TORONTO (AP) --As a big-budget original movie made largely with practical effects, "Ford v Ferrari" isn't so much pointed against headwinds in Hollywood as it is speeding 200 miles-per-hour right into them.
The film, directed by James Mangold, premiered Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival, unveiling a big, swaggering throwback movie, a studio-made crowd-pleaser led by a pair of in-form movie stars in Christian Bale and Matt Damon.
"As the real stars of more and more movies become the IP — the source material, the costume, the uniform — the magic of the actors walking into something completely unknown to you is an exciting thing that we haven't seen in a long time," Mangold said in an interview in advance of the film's premiere. "To make an intelligent action movie was the goal."
"Ford v Ferrari" is just getting into gear. It won't hit theaters until Nov. 15, but it's already drawn strong reviews and been drafted into this fall's awards season after first debuting at the Telluride Film Festival last week. For Damon, such talk is too early, especially for a movie made with the intention of reaching a mass audience.
"I read the script and I thought it was a crowd-pleasing movie in all the right ways — like a movie that people would want to go see," said Damon. "That's what we made. It's just a great underdog story."
"Ford v Ferrari" dramatizes the Ford Motor Co.'s drive to dethrone the reigning power of international racing, Ferrari, at the 1966 Les Mans, the classic 24-hour endurance race. Damon plays automotive designer Carroll Shelby; Bale plays the headstrong driver Ken Miles. It's a movie about obsession and drive, in which Shelby and Miles are often chafing at the constricting corporate dictates of Ford.
Mangold sees his movie, also, as an effort to battle a dominant force.
"I definitely feel, at least inside my own body, that there's an exhaustion with the kind of superhero-tentpole movie and all the tropes of them," said Mangold. "Certainly 'Logan' was my response. I wasn't just trying to make a Western disguised as a superhero movie. I was also trying to make an original superhero movie."
The 55-year-old Mangold ("Walk the Line," ''3:10 to Yuma") has made a career out of directing a disappearing breed of movie: studio films aimed at adults. Before "Joker" was winning plaudits for rewriting the superhero film, Mangold's gritty, unadorned take on Wolverine, "Logan," became the first superhero film to earn an Oscar nomination for its writing.
"Ford v Ferrari," costing close to $100 million to make, is a potentially risky project for 20th Century Fox, which after producing the film was acquired by the Walt Disney Co. After disappointing results for Fox's initial releases under its new parent company ("Dark Phoenix," ''Stuber"), "Ford v Ferrari" may turn the tide.
But as Shelby initially tells Ford's Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal), "You can't buy a win." Yet you can, Shelby says, pay the right people to give you a shot at winning.
"Our goal and all our money was put toward trying to make as analog a film as possible," said Mangold. "We tried to do it for real. Our actors could drive."
"I really didn't want to make a CG race film. Of course, there are visual effects working on the film. But the front-and-center race is something we physically mounted," he added. "In that sense, I'm an avowed traditionalist."
Mangold is represented in the commercialmaking/branded content arena by production house Minted Content.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More