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“Logan” director James Mangold is helming Fox’s untitled Ford vs. Ferrari movie, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. from a script by screenwriters Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (“Edge of Tomorrow”).

The film follows an eccentric, determined team of American engineers and designers, led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his British driver, Ken Miles (Bale), who are dispatched by Ford Motor Company chief Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca on the Ford GT40 mission — building from scratch an entirely new automobile with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans world championship in France.

The initiative was created partly in response to Henry Ford II’s lengthy negotiations with Enzo Ferrari to buy Ferrari in order to expand Ford’s presence in motorsport in general and at Le Mans. Negotiations collapsed in 1963 due to disputes over control over Ferrari’s racing division.

Tracy Letts will play Henry Ford II, Caitriona Balfe will portray Miles’ wife, Noah Jupe will play their son, and Jon Bernthal will portray Iacocca. Chernin Entertainment is producing. The California Film Commission awarded the feature $17 million in tax credits to film in California, where the production is expected to spend more than $78 million. Fox has dated the still-untitled project for release on June 28, 2019.

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20th Century Fox will use the Nov. 15 slot for James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari movie, which had been set to open June 28, 2019. The new date puts the film, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, in the heart of awards season.

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Judging from the audience reaction here at Telluride to the world premiere of James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari,” the movie may have just raced its way into the Oscar lane.

Interest in the film was high with a full house at the 650-seat Werner Herzog theater that’s erected every year over an ice hockey rink. Some moviegoers dropped low into their seats and covered their eyes during the picture’s most dramatic race sequences. Though this is not a Netflix film, the streamer’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos and his company’s “Marriage Story” director Noah Baumbach along with star Adam Driver and co-star Laura Dern were spotted in the crowd.

If there were any outstanding questions of how Fox might position Damon and Bale in the acting categories, it looks like it will be Bale for lead and Damon for supporting.

Damon stars as Carroll Shelby, the legendary American racecar driver who was hired by Ford to build a car to beat Ferrari at the historic Le Mans race in 1966. Bale co-stars as Ken Miles, the rebellious British driver who Shelby insists drive Ford’s super machine.

Car racing movies have done well at the Oscars with below-the-line wins. John Frankenheimer’s 1966 “Grand Prix” won three Academy Awards for film editing, sound and sound effects. Acting recognition has been more elusive in this genre. Most recently, Ron Howard’s “Rush” in 2013 failed to earn acting nods for Chris Hemsworth, though Daniel Bruhl received BAFTA and Golden Globe noms for supporting actor.

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