Ride or Die’ Boosts Will Smith’s Return and Box Office with $56 Million Opening

NEW YORK (AP) — “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth installment of the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence action comedy series, opened with an estimated $56 million in theaters this weekend, delivering in Hollywood a much-needed summer hit and Smith’s biggest hit since slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

Expectations were all over the place for “Ride or Die” given the dismal movie market so far this summer and Smith’s less certain influence at the box office. Ultimately, however, Sony Pictures’ release turned out to be very close to, if not slightly better than, its follow-up predictions.

“Ride or Die,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is Smith’s first theatrical test since his 2022 slap of Rock earned him a 10-year Oscar ban. The “Bad Boys” movie was in development at the time and was ultimately made with a production budget of around $100 million.

Smith starred in the Apple version “Emancipation,” but that film — released in late 2022 — was filmed before the slap and only received a modest theatrical release before broadcast.

This time around, Smith largely avoided introspective Oscar interviews and instead embarked on a whirlwind publicity tour of red carpets from Mexico to Saudi Arabia, where he attended what was billed as the first Hollywood premiere of the country. Smith, 55, who for years was one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” the YouTube series “Hot Ones” and on Friday made a surprise appearance in a Los Angeles film. theater.

Given that “Bad Boys” lagged behind May disappointments like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Fall Guy” — both of which struggled to win over ticket buyers despite strong 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 done over the past few weeks and most of the year, with a few exceptions, is try to understand why seemingly well-marketed and well-reviewed films have underperformed. perform. This ignites the spark the industry has been waiting for.

“Ride or Die” still failed 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 of dollars. After theaters closed due to the pandemic, it was the highest-grossing North American release of that year, grossing $204 million domestically.

“Ride or Die” added $48.6 million internationally. Although reviews were mixed (64% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film a high rating with an “A-” CinemaScore. Black moviegoers made up 44% of ticket buyers, the largest demographic.

In the film, which arrives 29 years after the original, Smith and Lawrence reprise their roles as Miami detectives. The plot revolves around the discovery of a plan to frame their late police captain (Joe Pantoliano). In one of the film’s most notable scenes, Lawrence slaps Smith and calls him a “bad boy.”

Movie theaters will need a lot more than “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” to right the ship, however. Ticket sales are down 26% from last year and more than 40% below pre-pandemic totals, according to Comscore. A big test will come next weekend with the release of Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” After sending several Pixar releases directly to Disney+, the studio this time promised a long traditional theatrical rollout.

Last weekend’s top film, “The Garfield Movie,” slipped to second place. Also from Sony, the animated family comedy raked in $10 million in ticket sales in its third weekend, bringing its domestic gross to $68.6 million.

The other novelty of the weekend, “The Watchers”, failed to appeal to moviegoers. The horror film, directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, tells the story of a 28-year-old artist stranded in Ireland. reviews, the Warner Bros. release. grossed $7 million from 3,351 theaters.

That helped Ryan Reynolds’ imaginary friend fantasy “If” land in third place in its fourth weekend of release, bringing Paramount Pictures’ domestic cumulative total to $93.5 million. Rounding out the top five was “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which added $5.4 million in its fifth weekend of release. It grossed $150 million domestically and $360 million worldwide.

Estimated ticket sales Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national figures 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 Observers”, $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.