Two Bad Boys were too good for one Dolittle at the box office. Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, brought in $59 million in the US and Canada to score a No. 1 debut entering the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the AP reports. The action-packed buddy comedy returned for the franchise's third installment after a 17-year hiatus with popular demand to outlast Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr., which opened at second with a mediocre $22.5 million. Sony Pictures predicted that Bad Boys will make around $68 million over the four-day weekend. The film exceeded expectations, building momentum with favorable reviews including an A Cinema Score and a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"It's a great brand with two terrific stars, a beloved franchise, and it feels like summertime in January," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. He said it was a smart move by Sony Pictures to release the film in January, an unusual month for blockbuster releases. Dolittle barely topped the World War I film 1917, which claimed the top spot last week. The Sam Mendes-directed war film continues to hold strong, with $22.1 million this weekend after going from 11 screens in its first weeks to more than 3,600. The Oscar-nominated epic wartime film has gained popularity after it won Golden Globes for best director and drama film. On Saturday night, it won the award for best theatrical motion picture at the Producers Guild Awards, which has gone on to win the best picture Oscar 21 out of 30 times, including the past two years.
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