Would-be summer blockbusters have had a bit of a hard time pulling in audiences lately. These movies not only failed to meet expectations but have also started to make cinema observers second guess what the audience and moviegoers crave. Movies like The Fall Guy and Furiosa have had good buzz building before their premieres and both were generally well received by the critics and people who saw it. However, neither made much in the way of money, and even a seemingly sure thing like Garfield didn’t fare much better.

The real test comes with the summer release titles like Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2 or Despicable Me 4. All of them are movie sequels with pre-established fan bases and past successes. However, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is also somewhat of a litmus test. The franchise has been a big money-maker, and it may give an insight into whether Will Smith’s star has any shine left after his controversies. Variety has reported that the Smith and Martin Lawrence film is off to a good start with $5.875 million in Thursday previews at the box office so far.

As stated in his review, our own Chris Bumbray points out, “Many may not realize it, but Bad Boys For Life was the highest-grossing domestic release of 2020. It made $426 million worldwide, just before the pandemic shut down movies for the rest of the year. It likely would have made even more money had its theatrical run abroad not been truncated.” Bad Boys For Life had earned just a bit more in its Thursday previews with $6.4 million. Plus, that was in January — when audiences are usually fatigued by the holidays and the movies are usually dumped by the studio in that month because they have no faith in it.

If Bad Boys: Ride or Die sustains this pace, it could be the first big hit of the summer. In our review, it was said that “the old-fashioned appeal of Bad Boys: Ride or Die can’t be underestimated. The directors have bounced back nicely from Batgirl being shelved, delivering another slam-bang installment into the franchise that should be a legit hit, even if Smith still rubs some people the wrong way. This is a solid comeback role for him, with the movie working overtime to remind us that even if our heroes may seem larger than life on screen, they’re human at the end of the day. It’s hard not to root once again for these Bad Boys to keep their franchise going for years to come.”

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