Ride together, die together, blow up the box office together: Bad Boys for Life is a hit. The third entry in the action franchise exceeded expectations at the weekend box office, taking in 83% more than initially projected. But while Bad Boys had a good weekend, Dolittle did not. The Robert Downey Jr. film flopped, giving Cats distributor Universal Pictures another box office body blow.
Bad Boys for Life is full of surprises. Not only is the latest entry featuring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence surprisingly good, it’s also a surprise hit. According to Deadline, the threequel is headed for a $73.4 million 4-day haul, and is currently sitting on $68M – 83% more than the $40 million tracking projection that was being bandied about last week. Good word-of-mouth and the excitement of seeing Smith and Lawrence crack jokes while killing a bunch of people likely helped draw a larger-than-expected crowd.
The same could not be said for Dolittle, which will likely end up $29.5 million after four days. The family-friendly flick cost an estimated $175 million to make, and is unlikely to come anywhere close to breaking even. This is the second box office disaster in a row for Universal Pictures following the failure of Cats. While Bad Boys experienced better-than-expected reviews, Dolittle was torn apart by critics.
The upcoming weekend sees the release of The Turning, which is another title from Universal Pictures. The horror film underwent a bumpy behind-the-scenes process, starting out as a film called Haunted set to begin production in 2016 as a passion project for producer Steven Spielberg. But Spielberg pulled the plug five weeks before shooting, and the project underwent an overhaul, adding a new cast and a new director. Will The Turning find an audience this weekend? We’ll find out soon enough. The other new release of the weekend is Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, which seems unlikely to be much of a hit.
You can see the current top 10 movies at the box office below.
1. Bad Boys for Life
2. Dolittle
3. 1917
4. Jumanji: The Next Level
5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
6. Just Mercy
7. Little Women
8. Knives Out
9. Like a Boss
10. Frozen 2
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