Bad Boys: Ride or Die Tops U.S. Box Office With $104 Million Opening

After a lackluster Memorial Day weekend at the box office at the end of May, June is off to a much stronger start thanks to the release of Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The new film sees Will Smith and Martin Lawrence returning for the fourth time as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, two Miami cops who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The movie had an impressive opening and has already crossed $100 million worldwide.

Bad Boys: Ride or Dide has exceeded expectations for Sony by raking in $56 million domestically for a global total of $104.6 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bad Boys: Ride or Dide is “arguably” the first movie of the summer to make more than estimated in its opening weekend. For comparison, Bad Boys For Life made $62 million domestically in January of 2020 before earning $426 million globally. It was one of the last films to be released before theaters were shut due to the pandemic.

Bad Boys: Ride or Dide is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 64% critics score and a 97% audience score. ComicBook’s Kofi Outlaw gave the movie a 4 out of 5, and called it “a confident step forward for a re-invigorated franchise.” The movie also has an A- CinemaScore in North America.   

What Is Bad Boys: Ride or Die About?

In Bad Boys: Ride or Die, wise-cracking Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are back in action when they learn that their former captain was posthumously framed for working for a drug cartel, igniting a mission to uncover the truth of the conspiracy to find out who set up their late superior. Not only do they hope to restore the honor of their late captain, but also find out who set him up and who might be putting targets on their backs next.

Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, Joe Pantoliano, and DJ Khaled all return to star in the fourth entry in the series, which adds Tasha Smith, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Melanie Liburd, and Tiffany Haddish. Bad Boys: Ride or Die also brings back Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. 

“I’m very excited about this one,” Smith revealed in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. “We want it to feel nostalgic, but we also want the characters to be experiencing things that are age-appropriate and experience-appropriate. It’s a challenge to keep it fun and keep it exciting and make sure that the popcorn part is enjoyable, but also letting it be gourmet popcorn. It is popcorn, but it’s definitely got some special sauce on it.”

“That’s the thing that is important [in making] another one: It has to have an emotional base that is interesting and riveting, not just trying to blow some stuff up,” Smith explained. “At this point in my life, I need the movies to be about something. Part of why Bad Boys works for people is at the heart of it is friendship. At the heart of it is love. At the heart of it is a relationship, and it’s the kind of relationship that we all wish we had, somebody that will ride or die with us and for us.”

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is now playing in theaters.