'Ford V. Ferrari' Sends Christian Bale And Matt Damon On The Race Of A Lifetime [CinemaCon 2019]

Christian Bale and Matt Damon are out to build a Grand Prix-winning car in Ford v. Ferrari, the latest from Logan director James Mangold. Based on the true story of Ford's attempt to build a car to beat Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, the biographical drama also stars Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Tracy Letts and Noah Jupe. /Film's Peter Sciretta and Ben Pearson were on hand at CinemaCon 2019 to watch the first footage from the film and it certainly sounds intense.

The footage begins with a twilight shot of driver Ken Miles (Bale) on what looks like a racetrack, trying to get his son to imagine a perfect race. We quickly learn that engineer Carroll Shelby (Damon) has been recruited by Ford to build a "perfect" car that can beat Ferarri at the the Le Mans World Championship race. Dialogue explains that the Le Mans is about survival, that you're going to get exhausted and hungry and that they need a "pure racer." That's how Miles enters the picture. Together, they will build and race a new car in 90 days.

"You think those guys are going to let you build the care you want, the way you want it?" Miles asks. Cue lots of cool shots of polo shirts and sunglasses. Shots of cars being worked on and cars going fast, with the footage giving the viewer a real sense of speed. We see them build the fastest car ever...but it can't corner or stay on the ground. Shots of the big race. Explosions. Bale and Damon appear to share a crackling chemistry: "Do you think we can beat Ferrari?" "We can try."

The footage ends with Henry Ford II (Letts) going for a test ride, but he's terrified and breaks down crying when they stop the car.

Overall, Ford v. Ferrari looks like a different kind of racing movie, one interested in conveying a true sense of speed and the seemingly impossibly engineering that goes into building a proper racecar. Consider us all-in on this one.

Here's the synopsis that accompanied the film's original announcement:

Based on a true story, the film follows an eccentric, determined team of American engineers and designers, led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver, Ken Miles, who are dispatched by Henry Ford II with the mission of building from scratch an entirely new automobile with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship.

Ford v. Ferrari races into theaters on November 15, 2019.