The Bad Boys franchise looks like it will survive without director Michael Bay as the third installment Bad Boys For Life not only broke a January preview night record but also now holds the biggest opening in the franchise.
BoxOffice says the film’s estimated opening over the 4-day long weekend is said to be around $73.4 million ($62.1 million over the 3-day weekend), which could go up or down depending on the final numbers.
This would blow-away Bad Boy II’s $46.5 million opening back in 2003.
It’s easy to see why the studio is already working on Bad Boys 4 with screenwriter Chris Bremner reportedly in talks to handle the fourth installment’s script, no word on a director though. However, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are already expected to reprise their roles.
With a budget of $90 million, the studio is on the path making a hefty profit and I have to assume it should have a decent hold-over in the second weekend.
Considering a bunch of delayed sequels and soft-reboots have been massacred by audiences lack of interest it is nice to see that an action franchise like Bad Boys can chug-along and even surpass the previous installments’ box office.
Luckily, the delays with getting Bad Boys 3 off the ground seem to have paid off and it’s sort of a miracle it even got made given all the development stalls over the years along with losing multiple directors.
This is excellent news for Sony Pictures over the last two months after Jumanji: The Next Level (released last month) has now earned $712 million worldwide.
Other big Sony releases on the horizon include Bloodshot (March 13th), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (July 10th), Morbius (July 31st) and Venom 2 (October 2nd).
Old-school cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett team up to take down the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department along with Mike and Marcus go up against the ruthless Armando Armas.
SOURCE: BOX OFFICE
