Sony’s highly-anticipated sequel Bad Boys: Ride or Die helped revitalize a sagging summer box office – and helped usher in Will Smith’s comeback.

The fourth installment of the Bad Boys movie franchise opened with a strong $56 million in domestic box office, via Deadline, amid a worldwide debut of $104.6 million.

The sequel locked in the highest debut for an R-rated movie since Oppenheimer opened to $82.3 million last July.

Many were worried about the summer box office prospects when The Fall Guy came in far under projections, but that was not the case for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which is positioned to relaunch Smith’s career after more than two years of bad publicity following his slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.

It not only bested its most recent projections of $40 million but also the initial tracking which brought it in at $50 million.

Sony’s highly-anticipated sequel Bad Boys: Ride or Die helped revitalize a sagging summer box office – and helped usher in Will Smith ‘s comeback

The fourth installment of the Bad Boys movie franchise opened with a strong $56 million, via Deadline

The film opened in 3,885 theaters this weekend, and earned a strong $14,414 per-screen average for its box office debut.

It also fared well in foreign markets, with an international debut of $48.6 million for a worldwide debut of $104.6 million from a reported $100 million budget.

The debut is just below its predecessor, 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, which opened to $62.5 million en route to $206.3 million domestic and $426.5 million global from a $90 million budget.

The Bad Boys franchise kicked off in 1995 with Smith’s Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett, the directorial debut of Michael Bay.

The film – produced on just a $19 million budget – earned $65.8 million domestic and $141.4 million worldwide.

The franchise continued with 2003’s Bad Boys II, which earned $138.6 million domestic and $273.3 million worldwide from a $130 million budget.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die dethroned last week’s box office champ The Garfield Movie, which dropped to $10 million into second place.

IF remained in third place with $8 million while The Watchers – the new film from M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana Shyamalan – debuted with $7 million.

The film opened in 3,885 theaters this weekend, and earned a strong $14,414 per-screen average for its box office debut

It also fared well in foreign markets, with an international debut of $48.6 million for a worldwide debut of $104.6 million from a reported $100 million budget

It also fared well in foreign markets, with an international debut of $48.6 million for a worldwide debut of $104.6 million from a reported $100 million budget.

The Bad Boys franchise kicked off in 1995 with Smith’s Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett, the directorial debut of Michael Bay

Smith’s hit film comes more than two years after he hit Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, resulting in a 10-year ban from the annual ceremony

It opened in 3,351 theaters but managed just a $2,088 per-screen average for its box office debut, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes rounding out the top 5 with $5.4 million.

The top 10 is rounded out by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($4.2M, $58.7M domestic), The Fall Guy ($2.7M, $85.1M), The Strangers: Chapter 1 ($1.8M, $32.2M), Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle ($820,448, $5.7M), In a Violent Nature ($640,000, $3.6M).

Also returning to theaters for its 25th anniversary is Run Lola Run, which earned $153,908 from 275 theaters for a $559 per-screen average.

Next weekend brings the highly-anticipated animated sequel Inside Out 2, Reverse the Curse and Just the Two of Us.