HBO Max Loses Major Racing Movie

As with every month, HBO Max has rotated some of the titles available on its service. Unfortunately, that means that film fans will no longer be able to easily watch an incredible racing movie on the service. Ford v Ferrari, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, left HBO Max on Sept. 19. Racing fans who want to watch the movie will now have to just rent or buy it from a digital or physical retailer.

Set during the period leading up to the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ford v Ferrari follows automotive designer Carroll Shelby, who partners with fearless British race car driver Ken Miles to build a “revolutionary vehicle” for Ford Motor Co. They create the Ford GT40 and use it to defeat Enzo Ferrari’s race cars. Along with Bale and Damon, Ford v Ferrari stars Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone and Ray McKinnon. James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line) directs.

Ford v Ferrari hit theaters on Nov. 15, 2019, becoming a commercial success. The film grossed $225.5 million worldwide and received critical acclaim. The film took home Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing in 2020.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the cast and production crew strove to make the film as accurate as possible despite some restraints. They recreated France’s iconic track using a combination of sets in both Georgia and California. Bale also lost 45 pounds to portray the race car driver in Miles accurately. When it came to cars, the crew used authentic racing cars from the era.

“The movies that people go see these days in movie theaters are escapist fare; you know it’s really mainly made by computers and CGI,” said actor Josh Lucas. “At one point we had $200 million of actual Ferraris in that scene, all of it was real and we could feel it. It helps us as actors when you’re dealing with a car driving by at 100 miles an hour…it makes a difference.”

The streaming service boasts more than 10,000 hours of content with promises of more to come. This includes material from HBO; new original series; third-party licensed content; movies from Warner Bros., New Line and DC; and content from other WarnerMedia brands including CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth and Looney Tunes.