Let’s hope the rather impressive opening weekend performance of Bad Boys: Ride or Die this past weekend proves to galvanize the summer box office out of its slump. Our Blake & Wang P.A. insider, entertainment lawyer Los Angeles Brandon Blake, finally has some excellent box office news to share.
Outperforming Expectations
With a global opening of $104.6M and a domestic debut of $56M, Bad Boys: Ride or Die has finally delivered a box office release that has outperformed its benchmark expectations. Rather significantly, as it was expected to reach $75M globally and $40M in North America. Notably, that domestic figure was reduced from an original $50M in the wake of a lackluster summer box office, and Sony itself was only expecting $30M+. Hopefully, this also means good things for the upcoming release of Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2, as well.
Wide Release
The third installment in the franchise, Bad Boys for Life, hit a franchise-high domestic opening of $62M, in a 3-day weekend that included Martin Luther King Day in 2020. Globally, it hit the $101M mark, so Bad Boys: Ride or Die has surpassed it there. As so-called “fourthquels” often significantly underperform “threequels”, and Bad Boys for Life also benefited from the known phenomenon where long-delayed sequels open well, this strong opening weekend is quite an achievement.
The film is currently open in 3,850 locations across North America and at about 92% of its international footprint. We are still waiting for releases in Malaysia, Italy, China, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore.
Now, let’s hope that the film can echo Bad Boys for Life one more time, and show similarly strong legs. BB4L managed to clear $400M at the global box office, even as the looming specter of the pandemic closed in, significantly hampering at least its Chinese performance. That’s exactly the kind of far-reaching good news the box office needs right now.
Film and Television 