‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ success prompts talk of another edition

The fourth instalment of Bad Boys has been so successful at the box office that talks of the fifth version have already begun.

“We’ve had discussions but we want to see how this one did at the box office, and I’m sure we’ll have conversations this week,” said film producer Jerry Bruckheimer speaking to Deadline.

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Ride or Die smashed opening projections

The fourth instalment sees the Miami cop duo of Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) on a quest to clear the name of their late police captain, Conrad Howard who is linked to a drug cartel.

Howard’s character was portrayed by US actor Joe Pantoliano. The police captain, who the leading cop duo reported to, died in the third edition of the film that was released in 2020.

In its opening week, Bad Boys: Ride or Die smashed opening projections, racking-in $104.6M globally, including $48.6M from the international box office.

Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film was driven overseas by the European market with $19.3M across the continent.

New regional records

Of the 60 markets released this session, the UK leads with $4.9M. Mexico was next with $4.2M, followed by Germany at $3.7M and Saudi Arabia also at $3.7M (the first ever Hollywood premiere in Riyadh having paid dividends).

Rounding out the Top five, France collared $3.1M.

The film set new regional records for the Bad Boys franchise in Latin America and the Middle East with $10M and $9.5M, respectively.

Film producer Bruckheimer said the numbers are a reflection of people’s desires of what they want to see.

“If you make something the audience wants to see, they’re going to go see it. It’s that simple. If it works for them, they’ll line up. I wish we all knew what that was. We all have hits every time — [and then] we don’t.”

“They love these characters, they love Will (Smith) and Martin (Lawrence), their adventures and what they go through in their life. What they want, they want the same feeling, but they want something different. I think we’re very fortunate and we gave the audience exactly that,” averred Bruckheimer.

Bruckheimer has produced works such as Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds and Beverly Hills Cop franchise among the long list of films he’s worked on.

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