Over the last few weeks, box office pundits have debated whether Bad Boys: Ride or Die had the makings of a box office hit. The predictions have been all over the place, with some thinking it would open similarly to The Fall Guy and Furiosa with $30 million, while others thought it could hit $50 million (we predicted $40 million). According to Deadline’s early box office figures, the movie is opening above expectations with an estimated $52 million over the weekend. While that’s about $10 million shy of what Bad Boys For Life made, let’s not forget that the film opened before the pandemic, at a time when movie theatre attendance was a lot healthier than it is now. A $52 million start is a major success for Sony, with it arguably the first major money maker of the summer.

While some might point to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as another hit (which it was), it was also a huge-budget movie. Bad Boys: Ride Or Die reportedly only cost around $100 million, which is a bargain for a movie like this and assured the franchise will likely continue for years to come. Notably, it also proves that audiences are welcoming Will Smith back to the big screen (post-Oscar slap), giving him a much-needed hit film under his belt.

Sony also has the runner-up at the weekend box office, with The Garfield Movie on track for just over $10 million this weekend, which is a very small 26% decline from last weekend. However, the box office news isn’t all rosy, with Ishana Shyamalan’s The Watchers having a poor opening for WB, with it unlikely to make more than $7 million over the weekend, with it posting a deadly C-minus CinemaScore rating. Ouch.

We’ll be back tomorrow with our full box office wrap-up. Did you go see Bad Boys: Ride or Die this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

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