Topline
The fourth installment in the "Bad Boys" movie franchise blew studio and analyst expectations out of the water with a $56 million opening weekend, giving it the second-best opening of the season so far and delivering a much-needed jolt to a so-far-sleepy summer box office.
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Will Smith, left, and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys: Ride ... [+]
Key Facts
"Bad Boys: Ride or Die," the fourth film in a franchise that first started with the 1995 release of "Bad Boys," grossed $56 million domestically in its opening weekend, multiple outlets reported, almost twice as much as Sony's $30 million internal expectation and still well above industry estimates of $45 million to $50 million.
The movie didn't break franchise records ("Bad Boys for Life" opened to $62.5 million in 2020) but is the second-best opening in the series, a rarity for the fourth film in a franchise.
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” has already outpaced its $100 million budget at the global box office (it grossed $104.6 million worldwide in its opening weekend).
"The Garfield Movie" was the second-best performing film of the weekend with $10 million, followed by "IF" in the No. 3 spot with an $8 million gross and M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, "The Watchers," wth $7 million, lower than its $12 million to $20 million opening weekend expectation.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”—the only summer film to have better box office sales than "Bad Boys" in its opening weekend so far this summer with an initial $58.4 million draw—was the fifth-highest-grossing film of the weekend with $5.4 million, bringing its total domestic gross to $149 million.
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Surprising Fact
"Bad Boys: Ride or Die" has been generally well received to become the second-best reviewed film in the franchise so far. The movie has a 64% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. "Bad Boys For Life" is the highest-rated film in the franchise with a 76% critics score, and both "Bad Boys" (44%) and "Bad Boys II" (24%) earned less than half of critics' favor.
Key Background
The box office is about a quarter of the way through the summer movie season, which runs from the first Friday in May through Labor Day. Gross sales have so far crawled to hit $653.9 million, according to Box Office Mojo, only about 16% of the $4.03 billion reported at the box office last summer. The summer of 2023 was the first summer since the start of the pandemic to cross the once-reliable $4 billion milestone and relied on the blockbuster hits "Babie," "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and "Oppenheimer" to do so. This year's box office is expected to barely hit $3 billion in gross sales, in part due to last year's actors’ and writers’ strikes delaying film production and also because of the lack of a Marvel superhero flick to kick off the season (the first summer without one since 2009). Several of the films expected to boost the summer box office have yet to be released, including "Inside Out 2" (June 14), “Despicable Me 4” (July 3) and "Deadpool & Wolverine" (July 26).
Actor Will Smith, right, slaps Chris Rock onstage during the Oscars on March 27, 2022.
Tangent
"Bad Boys: Ride or Die" is the first big Will Smith film to be released since "the slap heard around the world" at the Academy Awards in 2022. Smith shocked audiences when he stood up from his seat at the Oscars ceremony and dramatically slapped host Chris Rock after the comedian told a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. He then returned to his seat and shouted “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth,” using an expletive that was bleeped in the ABC telecast. Smith then accepted his first Academy Award for his leading role in “King Richard," and in his speech called the man he portrayed "a fierce defender of his family" in what appeared to be a defiant reference to the slap. The incident earned Smith a decade-long ban from the award ceremony and sparked conversations about race, violence and the nature of celebrity.
Big Number
$4 billion. That's how much Smith movies have grossed at the domestic box office in total, according to IMBDPro. "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" out-performed the average opening weekend for Smith's films, which is $31.6 million.
Crucial Quote
"If the slap caused a reassessment of Smith as a movie star, 'Ride or Die' is the kind of the tailor-made vehicle that reminds you there haven’t been many better male American action stars in the last few decades," reviewer Jake Coyle wrote for the Associated Press.
