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It’s been a pretty bleak summer at the box office, as films like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga failed to bring in large audiences. But this past weekend, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence came riding in like heroes with Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth film in their franchise. Not only did Ride or Die exceed its projections for $40 million, it exceeded them with a $56 million opening that was the best for an R-rated film since Oppenheimer in 2023.
Oppenheimer’s $82.4 million opening was second all-time for an R-rated movie behind Joker’s $96 million. It’s too soon to say for sure if Deadpool and Wolverine can surpass those numbers later this summer. But Ride or Die went a long way towards resuscitating the domestic box office. Despite coming in a little bit behind Bad Boys For Life’s $62.5 million opening in 2020, Ride or Die’s strong performance could pave the way for yet another sequel.
While promoting the film this past weekend, Smith created a viral moment when he attended a screening of Bad Boys: Ride or Die at Cinemark Baldwin Hills.
The Garfield Movie held on to No. 2 slot this weekend with $10 million towards its new $68.6 million total. In the third slot, If is showing some legs with $8 million and a new running total of $93.5 million. The Watchers bombed at No. 4 with $7 million in its opening weekend, while Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes roared at No. 5 with $149.77 million to date after adding an additional $5.4 million.
Furiosa finished in sixth with $4.2 million and $58.7 million to date. Ryan Gosling’s Fall Guy reboot came in seventh with $2.7 million and $85.1 million total. The re-releases of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers finished in eighth and ninth place with $2.44 million and $1.9 million, respectively. Finally, The Strangers: Chapter 1 closed out the top ten with $1.84 million and $32.2 million so far.
