Will Smith smashes box office with ‘Bad Boys: Ride Or Die’ comeback
Will Smith’s latest movie Bad Boys: Ride Or Die has been a box office success in its opening weekend.
The fourth instalment in the buddy cop action franchise Bad Boys, and sequel to 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, arrived in US theatres on June 6.
Reuniting Smith and Martin Lawrence, and marking Smith’s second return to the silver screen following the infamous Oscars slap incident in 2022, the film was positively received.
Alongside generally favourable reviews, the film amassed $56million at the domestic box office, and $104.6million globally. However, in a two-star review, NME criticised the film’s subplots, writing: “As the film’s title hints, Marcus also has a bizarre thing where he believes he can’t die … Needless to say, this irritating idea resurfaces time and again, to diminishing returns.”
Compared with other major releases this summer, the film, which also stars Eric Dane and Vanessa Hudgens, was a close second to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes in its domestic launch, which garnered an impressive $58million.
Ride Or Die, which had a budget of $100million also had a successful opening weekend globally, collecting $19.3million in Europe, and reportedly setting franchise records in the Middle East and Latin America, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The first film in the Bad Boys franchise was released in 1995, and featured Lawrence and Smith as Miami narcotics detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. The first film made more than $141million at the box office against a budget of $19-23million, but received mixed reviews from critics.
Its 2003 sequel, Bad Boys II, became the tenth-highest-grossing-film of that year, crossing $273million worldwide. However, critical reviews worsened, with the film currently holding a 24 per cent Tomatometer rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The third instalment in the Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, Pirates Of The Caribbean) series also had a successful launch, earning $246million at the global box office. However, its run was abruptly cut short when theatres were closed due to the pandemic.
In other news, Smith has shared what he believes to be the best movie he ever made.
Elsewhere, Bruckheimer has teased the next Top Gun sequel, calling it a “terrific” follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick.
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Alex Berry
NME
