“Bad Boys for Life” opened with just over $68M domestically this weekend at the box-office. The Will Smith and Martin Lawrence starring sequel became Sony’s largest R-rated opening ever, topping the $57M brought in in 2014 with fellow sequel “22 Jump Street”. Overseas, the film managed around $38.6M, a solid opening, especially with five key territories yet to see the film.
In second place this week is Universal’s Robert Downey Jr starring reboot of “Dolittle”. Critically slammed, the film managed around $30M, which simply put is not enough for a film reportedly costing over $175M to make. Internationally the film sits at $17.2M, however, its overseas prowess will be determined by key releases in Europe. Either way, it does not look good for Universal.
On a brighter note for the studio, they did seal third with Oscar front runner “1917”. Sam Mendes’ war epic brought in $27M in its fourth week, bolstering its domestic total to over $80M. Globally the film has over $143.5M, though Universal will have the Oscar for best picture in their sights come February ninth.
Sony also had two pictures inside the top five this week as “Jumanji: The Next Level” continued to tick along, mustering $12.57M domestic and $17M internationally, landing the film at around $709M worldwide.
Rounding out the top five is Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker”, which scored just over $10M domestic and $10M internationally, leaving the film at $1.026B. Meaning the film will end as the lowest grossing of Disney’s sequel trilogy.
Next weekend will see Guy Ritchie’s Matthew McConaughey starring “The Gentlemen” open domestically, having already taken close to $20M abroad. While Universal will also debut a new film with horror picture “The Turning”, directed by Floria Sigismondi and starring Mackenzie Davis and Finn Wolfhard.
Here’s the full top 10:
1. Bad Boys for Life – $62.1M
2. Dolittle – $21.95M
3. 1917 – $22M ($81.4M Overall)
4. Jumanji: The Next Level – $9.68M (273.7M)
5. The Rise of Skywalker – $8.3M ($494.1M)
6. Little Women – $6.35M ($66.7M)
7. Just Mercy – $5,77M (21.1M)
8. Knives Out – $4.3M ($147M)
9. Frozen II – $3.9M ($466.5M)
10. Like A Boss – $4M ($17.9M)
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.