‘Bad Boys Ride or Die’ Domestic Box Office Blazes Past Expectations in Debut

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The Big Picture

Bad Boys: Ride or Die exceeds box office expectations, opening to $56 million and earning positive reviews.
The film faces competition from streaming services like Netflix but maintains a high audience rating.
The success of the fourth installment is a redemption for the directors after their previous project was canceled.

There’s no telling what will work and what won’t at the box office this year, but Sony will be heaving a sigh of relief that Bad Boys: Ride or Die isn’t landing in the same category as recent big-budget misfires such as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Fall Guy. Starring Will Smith — this is his first theatrical release after the Oscars slap incident — alongside Martin Lawrence, the fourth installment in the action-comedy franchise is exceeding the studio’s conservative $30 million expectations on its way to one of the biggest debuts of the year. Bad Boys: Ride or Dieopened to $56 million in its first three days of release, giving a much-needed shot in the arm to a struggling marketplace.

While this isn’t as impressive as the $62 million that the franchise’s third installment, Bad Boys for Life, grossed in its first weekend, it’s important to point out that the industry has changed immensely in the interim years. Bad Boys for Life was among the last few films that got an unchallenged run in theaters before the pandemic, and grossed over $425 million globally. Since then, streaming has become hugely significant, and theatrical windows have been narrowed. The audience’s tastes and preferences have changed as well. Bad Boys: Ride or Die isn’t merely competing with fellow theatrical releases this weekend, it’s also taking on Hit Man, on Netflix.

But like its immediate predecessor, Bad Boys: Ride or Die also earned positive reviews. The movie sits at a “fresh” 64% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and won an impressive A- CinemaScore from opening day crowds. The film’s audience rating on RT stands at an incredible 97%, which means that it could continue playing for weeks. Produced on a reported budget of $100 million, the benchmark for success has to be the lifetime haul of Bad Boys for Life, which was also directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. This is a redemption for them as well; they’re coming off of their DC superhero movie Batgirl being unceremoniously axed before release.

The Summer Box Office Had Been Struggling

Slipping to number two in its third weekend, Sony’s The Garfield Movie grossed an estimated $10 million, taking its running domestic total to just under $70 million. While the movie isn’t quite performing to the level of the recent Kung Fu Panda 4, and has still not grossed even half of what The Super Mario Bros. Movie made in its first weekend alone, it’s displaying strong holds and will continue drawing audiences until Pixar debuts Inside Out in a few days.

The third spot was claimed by Paramount’s IF, which grossed an estimated $8 million in its fourth weekend. This takes the family friendly film’s running domestic total to $93 million, which means that it should be able to pass the coveted $100 million mark by next weekend. Written and directed by John Krasinski, IF has defied mixed reviews and a soft opening weekend to bounce back in grand fashion. The fourth spot this weekend went to New Line’s The Watchers, directed by debutante Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of genre icon M. Night Shyamalan. But neither the reviews nor the audience response seems to be going in the movie’s favor. The Watchers debuted with an estimated $7 million in its first weekend, continuing a sorry streak for studio horror releases this year. And its 29% RT rating and C- CinemaScore certainly don’t bode well for the future.

The top five was rounded out by 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the summer’s one true blockbuster. The film grossed over $5 million this weekend — its fifth — and took its running domestic total to just under $150 million, overtaking the $146 million lifetime haul ofWar of the Planet of the Apes. In doing so, the movie also overtook Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which has now slipped out of the top five just three weekends into its theatrical run. Furiosastill hasn’t passed the $60 million mark domestically; it was produced on a reported budget of nearly $170 million. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.