'Ford v. Ferrari' roars to front of North American box office

'Ford v. Ferrari'roared to the front in North American box offices on an overall slow weekend, taking in $31.5 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Monday.

The new Fox release starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale portrays how a team at Ford built a car to challenge Ferrari's longtime dominance of France's classic 24-hour Le Mans race in 1966.

Shot for around $100 million largely without computer-generated special effects, the film garnered a rare A+ CinemaScore from viewers, the highest among new nationwide offerings.

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In second was Lionsgate's war movie 'Midway,'with $8.5 million in Friday-to-Sunday ticket sales.

The film looks at the pivotal naval battle between the US and Japanese forces in the Pacific in June 1942.

A new chapter in the 'Charlie's Angels' saga opened in third place, taking in what analysts called a disappointing $8.4 million.

The Angels' last big-screen film, in 2003, debuted to a far more impressive $37 million.

Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska star as the trio of glamorous spies.

Paramount's comedy 'Playing With Fire'placed fourth at $8.3 million. John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo portray a crew of tough firefighters who rescue three unruly siblings and end up having to babysit them.

Fifth place went to Universal's early-arriving romantic comedy 'Last Christmas,'at $6.5 million. Emilia Clarke plays Kate, who is unhappy in her job as a department store elf until she meets handsome Tom (Henry Golding), who seems -- perhaps is? -- too good to be true.

Overall, it was a strikingly anaemic weekend at the box office, which was down 40 per cent from the same weekend last year, Exhibitor Relations said.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

'Doctor Sleep' ($6 million)

'The Good Liar'($5.6 million)

'Joker'($5.3 million)

'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil'($4.9 million)

'Harriet' ($4.6 million)