Bad Boys For Life topped the Super Bowl weekend box office, this time tackling the competition with an estimated $17.6 million, according to Comscore. That’s three straight wins for the Sony action flick starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and brings its total haul in North America to $148 million.
Universal’s awards season favorite 1917 added 50 locations and another $9.6 million this weekend, for a second place finish. Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr. took third with $7.7 million.
Opening in fourth place was United Artists Releasing’s horror film Gretel & Hansel with $6.1 million. The new version of the classic fairytale had a modest $6 million production budget, so its opening wasn’t a complete nightmare. Rounding out the top 5 in its second weekend was Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, with a very close $6 million.
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Not even coming close to the top five was The Rhythm Section in tenth place. The action drama starring Blake Lively played in 3,049 theaters, and debuted with a dismal $2.8 million.
The film centers on a woman seeking revenge against the people who orchestrated a plane crash that killed her family. The cast includes Jude Law, Richard Brake, Max Casella, and Sterling K. Brown, with Reed Morano directing.
Critics pummeled the film, giving it a lousy 33 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Among the criticism — the movie is “unconvincing” and “can’t keep a beat.”
The Rhythm Section cost a reported $50 million to produce, making its opening even more of a financial miss. The Paramount release now claims the title of worst opening ever for a film playing on 3,000 or more screens. New Line Cinema’s Hoot, which debuted with $3.4 million in 2006, previously held that dubious distinction.
