Will Smith's Bad Boys: Ride or Die revived the shattered summer box office with a better-than-expected $56 million domestic debut and $104.6 million worldwide.
This outstanding debut puts the actor on track for a career return two years after the controversial Oscars slap.
The movie reunites Smith and Martin Lawrence and is the fourth installment in Sony's long-running franchise. It received an A- CinemaScore in North America and generally good reviews. Just as encouraging, 44 percent of the audience was between 18 and 34, indicating Smith's popularity among younger customers. Black moviegoers comprised the biggest audience, accounting for 44 percent.
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Ride or Die is likely the first summer film to outperform tracking, which predicted it would gross between $48 million and $50 million. It’s also the second biggest domestic launch of the season behind Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which debuted at $58 million domestically.
It is also the season's second-highest-grossing domestic premiere, after Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which grossed $58 million.
The film's global debut is also encouraging, with $48.6 million from 58 nations, or 58 percent of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in like-for-like markets. It grossed a healthy $19.3 million in Europe and broke franchise records in Latin America and the Middle East.
The $100 million movie is the sequel to Bad Boys for Life, which grossed $62 million domestically in January 2022 and earned $426 million worldwide before theatres were closed due to the epidemic. Jerry Bruckheimer produces the Bad Boys series.
Smith and Lawrence return as Miami officers Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who are forced to flee when their late police captain is tied to drug gangs, and they try to clear his name. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (billed as Adil & Bilall) directed Bad Boys: Ride or Die from a story by Chris Bremner and Will Beall.
The picture is Smith's first significant appearance after the infamous slap during the live telecast of the 2022 Oscars
