The return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Bennett in Bad Boys for Life seems like it is going to become a profitable one for Sony. This is a sequel that’s been a long time coming, and, after decades of discussion, it’s ultimately in the can and ready to hit theatres and will be one of the first blockbusters of this new decade. When it is not breaking any records, the numbers look great for this one.
At present, Bad Boys for Life is tracking to get an opening weekend within the MLK holiday of $40 to $45 million from Friday to Monday. Sony is a little conservative on their end, with the studio stating $38 million. Whatever the case, for a film that cost $90 million to create, that is not a bad box office start. With a price tag like this, it doesn’t have to make $100,000 million on opening weekend to be a hit. What is more, January doesn’t have as many big movies as the summer, so something similar to Bad Boys 3 could capitalize on too little direct competition.
This is going to be a new test for the endurance of Will Smith as a bankable movie star. Matters have been hit or miss out on the actor in the last couple of years, following his conduct as the most excellent movie star on Earth in the 2000s. While blockbusters like Suicide Squad and this year’s live-action Aladdin remake went on to become big hits, they were panned by critics, which makes it something of a win/lose. However, his more acclaimed efforts, including Focus and Concussion, failed to bring moviegoers to theaters.
That makes Bad Boys for Life something of an intriguing experiment. It is a favorite franchise, but maybe not as large as when Will smith returned to Men In Black III in 2012, and it has been dormant since Bad Boys II came in 2003. It is also following in the footsteps of Gemini Man, which failed to connect at the box office despite having double the Smith action. The actor is now voicing the lead character in Spies In Disguise, but the family-friendly animated film only hit theaters, so we can not yet say how to pan out.
Michael Bay is not returning to direct. Instead, relative newcomers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are currently taking the reigns on this one. The cast includes Vanessa Hudgens (Sucker Punch), Alexander Ludwig (The Hunger Games), Charles Melton (The Sun can also be a Star), Paola Nunez (The Son), Kate Del Castillo (Under the Same Moon), Nicky Jam (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) and Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix), Who’s reprising his role as Captain Howard. Bad Boys for Life is set to hit theatres on January 17, 2020. This news comes to us through Forbes.