‘BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE’ Debuts with $104.6M Worldwide

The summer box office has officially kicked off with a bang as “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” stormed to the top, opening at No. 1 globally with a projected $104.6 million in ticket sales. The latest installment in the action-comedy franchise, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, garnered $56 million across North American screens alone.

Domestically, the film saw a strong performance over the weekend, making $21.6 million on Friday, $19.5 million on Saturday, and a projected $14.9 million on Sunday across 3,885 screen locations, including all premium large formats and IMAX. While its opening was $6.5 million lower than 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life,” which holds the franchise’s record for opening weekend gross revenue, Sony has hailed the results as a “phenomenal start.”

Sony emphasized that the film’s performance is the second-highest domestic opening for the franchise and the biggest opening weekend for an “R”-rated film since last summer. This success marks a significant comeback for Smith, making his first return to the big screen following the Oscars incident where he slapped host Chris Rock.

“With terrific audience reactions (97% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, a perfect 5-star PostTrak rating, A- CinemaScore) and a full summer of playtime, the film is well positioned for a long theatrical run,” Sony said.

In other box office news, Columbia Pictures/Alcon Entertainment’s “The Garfield Movie,” featuring Chris Pratt as the voice of Garfield, finished No. 2 for the weekend. The animated film earned $2.875 million on Friday, $3.95 million on Saturday, and a projected $3.175 million on Sunday across 3,959 screens. The studio projects a $10 million weekend total, bringing its domestic gross to $68.613 million and $155 million worldwide through Sunday.

Crunchyroll/Sony Pictures’ “HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle” secured $255,000 on Friday, $318,000 on Saturday, and $247,000 on Sunday across 1,119 locations, projecting an $820,000 weekend total. Its domestic gross stands at $5.784 million.

Paramount Pictures’ live-action family film “IF,” written and directed by John Krasinski and starring Ryan Reynolds, finished No. 3 with $8 million in ticket sales. The film’s North American total now stands at $93.5 million, with a worldwide gross of $145 million.

Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line’s supernatural horror film “The Watchers,” directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan and starring Dakota Fanning, opened at No. 4 with $7 million in ticket sales across 3,351 screens.

Finally, Twentieth Century Studios’ “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” added $5.5 million in revenue across 3,155 screens. The fourth installment in the rebooted franchise has earned $149 million domestically and $337 million worldwide, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2024 thus far, trailing behind Warner’s “Dune: Part Two” with $711.8 million.