Bad Boys, Bad Boys, what ya gonna do... If you're Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, you're going to top the US box office as, riding a wave of positive buzz and reviews, Bad Boys For Life drove straight to the number one slot with a studio-estimated $59.1 million this weekend.
The threequel has been surprising audiences and delighting critics, and has easily seen off competition from Dolittle, which has suffered from a surfeit of negativity even before it reached the eyes of the press and the general public. Robert Downey Jr.'s attempt to breathe new life into the classic character didn't quite fall off the cliff some were expecting, but a $22.5 million opening weekend in the US is far from successful for a movie that cost $175 million to make before marketing costs are factored in. It had more luck globally, but still only launched with $57.3 million, which doesn't look good compared to the champ's $106.7 million worldwide haul.
Third was last week's topper, 1917, still happily buoyed by awards recognition and an expanded release. It earned $22.1 million this weekend. Jumanji: The Next Level added $9.5 million, while Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker fell a couple of places to fifth and $8.3 million. The latest dispatch from the galaxy far, far away has at least now topped a billion dollars globally, though it's still linger well behind the previous two main Wars entries.
Just Mercy slipped to sixth on $6 million, while Little Women made $5.9 million for seventh. Knives Out actually jumped up a place to eighth, adding $4.3 million, with new comedy Like A Boss fizzling fast, falling from fourth to ninth on $3.8 million. Finally, in 10th, we find Frozen II, earning $3.7 million.