NEW YORK — “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth film in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence action-comedy series, debuted with an estimated $56 million in theaters over the weekend, delivering Hollywood a huge summer hit. necessary and Smith his greatest success. success since he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.
Expectations for “Ride or Die” were all over the place, given the dismal movie market so far this summer and Smith’s less certain influence at the box office. In the end, though, Sony Pictures’ release came in very close to or slightly above its follow-up forecast.
“Ride or Die,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is Smith’s first theatrical tryout since his 2022 Rock slap earned him a 10-year ban from the Oscars. The “Bad Boys” film was in development at the time and ended up moving forward with a production budget of around $100 million.
Smith starred in the Apple release “Emancipation,” but that film — released in late 2022 — was filmed before the slap and received only a modest theatrical release before broadcast.
This time, Smith avoided in-depth interviews reminiscing about the Oscars and instead went on a publicity tour of red carpets from Mexico to Saudi Arabia, where he attended what was billed as the country’s first Hollywood premiere. Smith, 55, who for years was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, has appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” the YouTube series “Hot Ones” and on Friday made a surprise appearance in a Los Angeles. theater.
Given that “Bad Boys” lagged behind May disappointments like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Fall Guy” — both of which struggled to break through among ticket buyers despite very good reviews — the opening of “ Ride or Die” counts as a review. weekend victory for the film industry.
“The fact that a movie outperformed is the best news possible,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “It seems like all we’ve been doing over the last few weeks and almost since the beginning of the year, with a few exceptions, is trying to figure out why seemingly well-marketed, well-reviewed films have underperformed. This ignites the spark the industry has been waiting for.”
“Ride or Die” has yet to match the opening of the previous “Bad Boys” film: 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life.” That film, released in January 2020, debuted with $62.5 million. After the pandemic closed theaters, it was the highest-grossing North American release of that year, with $204 million domestically.
“Ride or Die” grossed $48.6 million internationally. Although reviews were mixed (64% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film a high score with an “A-” CinemaScore. Black moviegoers made up 44% of ticket buyers, the largest demographic group.
In the film, which takes place 29 years after the original, Smith and Lawrence reprise their roles as Miami detectives. The plot revolves around the discovery of a scheme to frame his deceased police captain (Joe Pantoliano). In one of the film’s most notable scenes, Lawrence slaps Smith and calls him a “bad boy.”
Theaters will need a lot more than “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” to right the ship. Ticket sales are down 26% from last year and more than 40% below pre-pandemic totals, according to Comscore. A big test comes next weekend with the release of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” After shipping several Pixar releases directly to Disney+, the studio has promised a long, traditional theatrical release this time around.
Last weekend’s best film, “The Garfield Movie,” fell to second place. Also from Sony, the animated family comedy grossed $10 million in ticket sales in its third weekend, bringing its domestic gross to $68.6 million.
The weekend’s other big release, “The Watchers,” didn’t attract viewers. The horror film, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, is about a 28-year-old artist lost in Ireland. reviews, the Warner Bros. release. grossed $7 million from 3,351 theaters.
That allowed “If,” Ryan Reynolds’ imaginary friend fantasy, to take third place in its fourth weekend of release, bringing Paramount Pictures’ cumulative domestic total to $93.5 million. Rounding out the top five was “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which grossed $5.4 million in its fifth weekend of release. It grossed US$150 million domestically and US$360 million worldwide.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national numbers will be released on Monday.
1. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $56 million.
2. “The Garfield Movie,” $10 million.
3. “If”, $8 million.
4. “The Watchers,” $7 million.
5. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” $5.4 million.
6. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” $4.2 million.
7. “The Fall Guy,” $2.7 million.
8. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” $2.4 million.
9. “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” $1.9 million.
10. “The Strangers: Chapter 1,” $1.8 million.
