Sony PicturesBad Boys for Life topped its previous box office records across its opening weekend, making a whopping $68 million.
Bad Boys II made $46 million on its opening weekend back in 2003, with the first film of the franchise making $15 million (which was seen as pretty good in 1995).
According to Forbes, the film – starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence – is the second biggest January release of all time behind Bradley Cooper’s American Sniper.
Sony PicturesIt is Smith’s fifth-best three-day domestic opening after Suicide Squad ($133.6M), Aladdin ($91.5M), I Am Legend ($77.2M) and Hancock ($62.6M).
The threequel was directed by Belgian directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with Smith and Lawrence reprising their roles as detectives Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence).
Others who returned were Joe Pantaliano as Captain Howard, as well as franchise newbies Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig and Charles Melton, Jacob Scipio, Paola Nuñez and DJ Khaled.
PA imagesRotten Tomatoes gave the third instalment of Bad Boys 76% while Empire gave the film a respectable 4/5 stars, describing it as ‘the best entry in the series to date’.
Variety was also complimentary of the film, writing:
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence bring their A game; they never let us feel like they’re going through the motions. The marks may be standard issue, but they hit them with fury and flair.
The film had a massive $90 million budget, while Bad Boys II was an even bigger $110 million budget yet didn’t do quite as well.
The official synopsis for Bad Boys For Life is:
The Bad Boys Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are back together for one last ride in the highly anticipated Bad Boys For Life.
The vague synopsis is thought to have potentially helped the sales of the film with adverts being spoiler-free too, meaning fans had to go see the film for themselves to see what happens to the dynamic duo in their supposed ‘last ride’ together.
Sony PicturesHowever, don’t be crying into your pillow just yet over the thought of no more Bad Boys movies, as – despite what you’d think from the synopsis – it turns out a fourth film is actually on the cards.
Don’t be getting too excited just yet as who knows, Sony may make us wait another 17 years for a fourth film. Personally, I think it would be quite funny having another Bad Boys movie 17 years down the line with Smith and Lawrence being 68 and 71 – but maybe that’s just me.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Niamh Shackleton is a pint sized person and journalist at UNILAD. After studying Multimedia Journalism at the University of Salford, she did a year at Caters News Agency as a features writer in Birmingham before deciding that Manchester is (arguably) one of the best places in the world, and therefore moved back up north. She’s also UNILAD’s unofficial crazy animal lady.