After several weekends of disappointments at the box office, Miami’s finest may be here to turn things around.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die opened to a positive $5.9 million during Thursday night previews at 3,339 locations. The film is expected to open between $45 million and $50 million this weekend, with Sony setting expectations lower at $30 million. The film’s budget sits at $100 million.
Ride or Die is the follow-up to Bad Boys for Life, which earned $6.4 million in Thursday previews on its way to a $62 million opening weekend. Opening in January 2020, it went on to earn $426 million at the global box office before theaters were shut due to the global pandemic.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who have to go on the run after their late police captain gets linked to drug cartels and they attempt to clear his name. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (billed as Adil & Bilall) directed Bad Boys: Ride or Die from a script written by Chris Bremner and Will Beall.
The film marks the first major theatrical return for Smith since he slapped Chris Rock during the live telecast of the 2022 Oscars. The Hollywood Reporter learned that his agents at CAA have been calling studio production execs for the first time since the slap, with the hope that Smith’s next film can be announced quickly after the release of Ride or Die, should it perform at the box office.
Also opening this weekend is Ishana Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller The Watchers, produced by her father M. Night Shyamalan.
