‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Rides Away With $56 Million Box Office Debut

Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Credit: Frank Masi/Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Will Smith made a triumphant return to the box office this weekend with Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

The buddy cop comedy co-starring Martin Lawrence opened in the top spot with an impressive domestic debut of $56 million, according to box office tracking company Comscore.

The film played in 3,885 locations across the U.S. and Canada for a strong per theater average of $14,414, surpassing analyst expectations.

“The overperformance this weekend of Bad Boys: Ride or Die is welcome news for movie theaters that have been dealing with down trending revenues amidst a slew of well-reviewed but underperforming titles thus far in 2024,” Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Urban Hollywood 411 on Sunday.

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Overseas, Bad Boys: Ride or Die rode away with $48.6 million, giving it a worldwide total of $104.6 million — more than its reported $100 million production budget.

The Sony Pictures release follows Smith and Lawrence in their fourth turn as Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett.

This time around, the two jump into action after a mystery surfaces involving their former boss Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano). Howard was killed in the last installment of the franchise, now he’s being accused of corruption and it’s up to Mike and Marcus to get to the truth.

The two cops dodge bullets, a hand grenade and a bounty on their heads as they work to clear Howard’s name and uncover the real corrupt cops. There’s even a slap scene in the film, acknowledging the controversy that’s followed Smith since he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.

“Some two years on from the infamous Oscar slap… the appeal to mainstream audiences to once again see the Will Smith, Martin Lawrence chemistry… was enough to get people to head back to the multiplex,” Dergarabedian said.

Audiences liked what they saw, giving the film a strong “A-” CinemaScore. Critics were mixed, handing it a 64 percent score out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Along with Smith, Lawrence and Pantoliano, the film’s cast includes Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nuñez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Melanie Liburd, and Tasha Smith. Tiffany Haddish and John Salley have cameos.

Chris Bremner wrote the script. Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith, Chad Oman, and Doug Belgrad are producers. Bruckheimer also makes a cameo.

This fourth film in the franchise is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who also helmed Bad Boys for Life — which scored the franchise’s best opening with $62.5 million four years ago.

Bad Boys was released in 1995, and Bad Boys II arrived in 2003. The saga continued with part 3 — Bad Boys for Life in 2020. With this weekend’s total, the franchise has now made more than $940 million worldwide.

Elsewhere this weekend, The Garfield Movie took second place after earning $10 million in its third week of release.

Family film IF was third with $8 million in its fourth week.

The Watchers opened in fourth place with $7 million and a disappointing per theater average of $2,089. The horror film is directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, Olwen Fouere, and Oliver Finnegan.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rounded out the top five with another $5.4 million in its fifth week of release. Since it debuted, the film has made more than $343 million worldwide.

Despite the strong showings this summer by Planet of the Apes and Bad Boys, the domestic box office is currently down 26 percent versus this time last year, per Comscore.


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.