Sony released Bad Boys for Life banking on the collective love for the series, and this week’s box office returns prove that move to be a smart one. Deadline is reporting that the third installment is poised to cross the $400 million threshold globally tomorrow in what has to be categorized as an inarguable win for everyone involved. As of yesterday, the domestic take sat at $193.1 million and the international total stands even higher at $204.1 million. Add to all those impressive numbers the fact that the fourth movie is already in development and it isn’t hard to see why Sony executives are thrilled with the outcome.
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The Bad Boys franchise has now eclipsed $800 million worldwide and will only grow going forward. Bad Boys for Life cost $90 million to make and switched directors to Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Some of the success could be down to nostalgia, or just the love of Will Smith, but it seems clear that there was an unseen need for an action buddy cop flick like this right now. Sony stepped in to fill that space and is reaping the benefits for it big time.
An even more stunning development is that Bad Boys for Life has achieved this with relatively little performance in Asian markets outside of Japan. The top 10 foreign markets for the film are the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. A lot of that can be boiled down to the extensive press push for the movie overseas. Smith and Lawrence both made some appearances and did some social media video that largely helped their cases in multiple countries.
Shortly before the film hit theaters, Smith talked to Jimmy Fallon about his approach to sequels now. It looks like being more selective is already paying dividends. People are more discerning when heading out to the theater than ever, and you really have to bring it if you want to connect with audiences.
“What we tried to do, that was really critical and important to me, is not try to just do the old movies again,” Smith reflected on the Bad Boys franchise. “You had to take into consideration the time, had to take into consideration how the characters would have grown. And the reason it took so long is because I didn’t want to make it just as a cash grab. You know, ‘Hey, everybody loves sequels, let’s just do a sequel.’”
