Like rain in the desert, Sony’s BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE let loose with a welcome three-day shower of $56.0M, sending the total domestic box office for all films to $103.5M. This represented 63% of the $163.8M earned last year on this same weekend, paced by a $61M opening for TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS.
Last week, the box office could only muster 31% of the total on the same weekend in 2023. Despite the recent stretch of low earnings, we are optimistic about the upcoming four weeks which are showing considerable interest in INSIDE OUT 2 on 6/14, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE and HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1 on 6/28, and DESPICABLE ME 4 on 7/3.
BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE is the fourth feature in one of the most popular “buddy” franchises of all time. Over the previous three, the detective duo of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence has grossed over $800M worldwide. The following chart demonstrates just how successful the BAD BOYS have been.
BAD BOYS Box Office History
- BAD BOYS (4/7/95) – Domestic Opening $15.5M, Domestic Total $65.8M, Worldwide Total $141.4M, Budget $19M, RT Critics/Audience 44%/78%
- BAD BOYS II (7/16/03) – Domestic Opening $46.5M, Domestic Total $128.6M, Worldwide Total $273.3M, Budget $130M, RT Critics/Audience 24%/78%
- BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (1/17/20) – Domestic Opening $62.5M, Domestic Total $206.3M, Worldwide Total $426.5M, Budget $90M, RT Critics/Audience 76%/96%
- BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (6/7/24) – Domestic Opening $56.0M, Budget $100M, RT Critics/Audience 64%/97%
Until this weekend, each movie in the series had outgrossed its predecessor, an unusual feat for most franchise sequels. Although the opening weekend box office for RIDE OR DIE came in slightly below that of BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, it was still a standout performance, the fifth-highest opening of 2024.
BAD BOYS FOR LIFE wound up with a total worldwide gross of $426.5M, even though its full potential was truncated by the COVID-19 pandemic. After opening on Martin Luther King holiday weekend in January 2020, it was still playing in over 2,000 locations in early March when the onset of the pandemic began to force theatres to close.
The prospects for RIDE OR DIE were clouded by several lingering concerns. Over his 39-year career, Will Smith has been one the most successful actors in Hollywood, with his movies grossing a stratospheric $9.3B worldwide. His career reached a high point when he won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Richard Williams in the movie KING RICHARD.
However, during the awards ceremony on March 27, 2022, he shocked the world when he walked up on stage to slap host Chris Rock in the face after Rock told a salty joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. In the blink of an eye, a superstar had jeopardized his career, with the consensus reaction to Smith’s behavior being solidly negative.
BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE is Smith’s first feature since that incident, and the response it receives from audiences could be a measure of his status with the public. After a strong box office in its opening weekend and an extremely strong 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems as though Smith may be on the road to redemption.
In the movie, detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett investigate corruption within the Miami Police Department when their deceased Captain Conrad Howard is accused posthumously of having been involved with the Romanian Mafia. A setup turns them into fugitives and forces them to work outside the law to solve the case.
Reviewers have been lukewarm on all the movies in the BAD BOYS franchise, and this one has a 64% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is the second-highest of the four movies. The film was produced on a budget of $100M and therefore it will need to earn $250M worldwide to reach profitability. After a solid opening, it now looks as if it may just get there. Because Smith is only 55 years old, he has the time to continue a successful career, if he can put his scandal behind him.
THE GARFIELD MOVIE took second place with $10.0M, a decline of only 29%. It appears that the ornery cat is not moving off his spot on-screen, having grossed $68.6M domestic and $171.5M worldwide in the past 17 days. The animated version has outpaced the two earlier live-action Garfield movies.
Even after next week’s opening of INSIDE OUT 2, which appeals to a similar family audience, we expect that THE GARFIELD MOVIE will continue to play well for at least several more weeks. It should wind up with a total domestic gross of $100M and a $250M worldwide, easily surpassing the $203.1M worldwide total of the franchise leader GARFIELD: THE MOVIE from 2004.
IF finished in third place with $8.0M, dropping 24% from last weekend. Just as with GARFIELD, IF has held up well for many weeks, having earned $93.5M domestic and $156.8M worldwide in the 24 days since its opening. We are projecting IFs final total to be $110M domestically and $165M worldwide.
Sony’s horror film THE WATCHERS finished in fourth place with $7.0M in its opening weekend. The movie was written and directed by Ishana Shyamalan and produced by her father, the renowned filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. This screenplay was based on a novel of the same name written by A.M. Shine.
Dakota Fanning stars as Mina, a woman whose car breaks down on a forest road. She encounters a woman who urges her to seek shelter in a concrete bunker. Once inside, she becomes trapped with others in a room that allows The Watchers to observe their captives. Mina sees terrible things happen to other, less fortunate victims who were not able to reach the safety of the bunker.
Critics have reacted negatively to THE WATCHERS by giving it a 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences have given it a middling 52% rating. This release continues this year’s “every other week” schedule for studios releasing new horror movies. Many of those have opened with disappointing results and faded quickly.
THE WATCHERS had a $30M production budget and will most likely not earn the $75M worldwide required for the movie to be profitable. Later this month, the much higher profile A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE will open and we will follow closely to see if it can break this year’s curse of low-performing horror movies.
In fifth place is KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES which took in another $5.4M in ticket sales, a decline of 40% from last weekend. After 31 days, it has earned $149.8M domestically and $356.7 worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of the year. It has also surpassed the domestic gross of its predecessor WAR OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which earned $146.8M in 2017.
Where Are We as of 6/6
After 22 weeks, the 2024 year-to-date box office stands at 72% compared to those same weeks in 2023 and 57% of the total at this time in 2019.
