Sony Pictures Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth entry in the near 30-year old franchise, has opened with a much-needed $56 million at the North American box-office.
The Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directed sequel to 1995’s Bad Boys, 2003’s Bad Boys II and 2020’s Bad Boys for Life also opened at the international box-office to the tune of $48.6 million, bringing the total seized by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Miami detectives to $104.6 million.
That figure is not only a big win for theatres worldwide following a tough run of results in May, but it’s also a positive turnout for Will Smith, who hasn’t had his popularity tested at the ticket office since he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
SEE ALSO: Read our Bad Boys: Ride or Die review here
In second place was The Garfield Movie with $10 million, which took its domestic gross to $68.6 million and $192 million globally after three weeks. Not too shabby for the orange tabby when you consider it only cost $60 million to make.
It wasn’t such good news for the other debutant in the chart, with Ishana Night Shyamalan’s The Watchers unable to capitalise on the current trend for low-budget horror hits. Audiences were as apathetic as critics (read our ★★★ here) when it comes to the Dakota Fanning-led thriller, which led to a quiet $7 million opening weekend.
Elsewhere in the chart John Krasinski’s IF continued to hold well, taking its domestic total to $93.5 million and $160.7 worldwide. The same can’t said for Furiosa, which has been leaking oil since the opening weekend, and spluttered to just $4.2 million over the current frame. The $168 million-budgeted prequel has stalled at $58.7 million in North America and $144 million total.
Despite the success of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the box-office is lagging 26% behind 2023 grosses according to year-on-year data.
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