JUNE 10 UPDATE: In his first major theatrical return since the Oscars slap of 2022, Will Smith demonstrated his enduring star power as Columbia Pictures’ Bad Boys: Ride Or Die opened top of North American box office on an estimated $56m, injecting a much-needed boost to the early summer season.
The R-rated fourth instalment in the cop buddy franchise pairing Smith and Martin Lawrence played in 3,885 locations, grossing $21.6m on Friday, $19.5m on Saturday, and a projected $14.9m on Sunday.
The debut was a significant rebound too for co-directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, whose Batgirl was shelved by Warner Bros in 2022.
Reportedly costing $100m, Bad Boys: Ride Or Die came in well ahead of tracking, which had forecast a $50m debut. It delivered the highest R-rated opening weekend since Oppenheimer last summer.
The action comedy earned an A- CinemaScore and the studio said 48% of the audience was aged under 35, while Black film-goers accounted for 44% and Latinos 26% of film-goers. The Imax circuit generated $5.2m or 9.3% of the weekend gross from 401 screens.
The film features a scene where Lawrence repeatedly slaps Smith, recalling the notorious incident when Smith slapped host Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards two years ago.
Including an estimated $48.6m international gross, the first weekend global tally stands at $104.6m. Screen will publish a full international report on Monday.
With 2024 year to date box office trailing the same stage of 2023 by approximately 26% there is still plenty of work to be done. While Bad Boys: Ride Or Die did not equal the unadjusted $62.5m January 2020 franchise record opening set by Bad Boys For Life, this was an encouraging result.
The industry looks ahead to next weekend’s launch of Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and other anticipated highlights such as Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Day One on June 28, and Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26.
In a strong weekend for Sony, Alcon’s studio’s $60m The Garfield Movie crossed $200m worldwide, adding $10m in North America for $68.6m after three weekends.
Paramount’s family film IF is showing decent staying power and ranks third on $93.5m after a further $8m in its fourth session. Warner Bros/New Line opened Ireland-set horror The Watchers starring Dakota Fanning arrived in fourth place on a lacklustre $7m from 3,351 sites. M Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana Shyamalan made her feature directorial debut.
Disney/Fox’s Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes rounded out the top five with a $5.4m haul that propelled the adventure thriller to the cusp of $150m after five weekends.
Warner Bros’ Cannes out of competition selection Furiosa at number six stands at a disappointing $58.7m after three, while Universal’s The Fall Guy in seventh place has amassed $85.1m after six sessions.
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