Amazon is taking Ferrari out of the theatrical race in Germany.
The streamer, which picked up rights in Germany and Austria for Michael Mann‘s race car biopic, has confirmed it will bypass cinemas and release the Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz starrer directly online. The film, which premiered in Venice last year and was released theatrically in the U.S. by Neon, will bow on Amazon’s Prime Video service in the two territories on March 1. Amazon took the same track in France, where Ferrari will go out on exclusively on Amazon Prime on March 8.
By swerving past a theatrical release in Germany, the streamer may have avoided a nasty pile-up. While generally well-received by U.S. critics, Ferrari got trashed by many Euro reviewers, who took issue with having the American Driver and Spaniard Cruz play Italian race car legend Enzo Ferrari and his (Italian) wife Laura.
Even in the U.S., the film failed to tear up the box office track, grossing just $18.5 million, of just under $40 million total worldwide. While not a disaster on the level of Mann’s last feature, 2015’s Blackhat, which topped out at under $20 million globally, Ferrari wasn’t the triumphant return to the winners’ circle that many Mann fans had hoped it would be.
Interestingly, the most successful international release of Ferrari in theaters came through the British pay-TV group Sky. The U.K. release grossed £4.2 million ($5.3 million), topping the $4 million it earned in Italy, released by Leone Film Group.