‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ exceeds expectations; Will Smith surprises theatergoers

Bad Boys: Ride or Die outperformed industry expectations this weekend at the box office

Meanwhile, Will Smith surprised a throng of screaming fans by secretly attending the opening weekend in a theater in Los Angeles, creating a mob scene right outside the room after he was discovered.

According to Variety, the fourth entry in the the buddy cop film with Smith and Martin Lawrence got the summer movie cranked up with a $56 million from itsdomestic debut. The film also opened at the international box office with $48.6 million, bringing its worldwide total to just over the $100 million mark. 

The estimated weekend total exceeds movie critics’ prediction that the film would accumulate around $48 million domestically. This makes it the second-highest debut film of the year — barely — behind the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which opened with a $58 million domestic tally.

Smith added to some lucky fans’ experience by showing up at one theater and watching the crowd’s reaction to Bad Boys. 

It appears in one of the clips, which was filmed and uploaded to TikTok by a manager of the L.A. theater, Smith was incognito by sneaking in after the lights went down and the movie started. He camouflaged his appearance by wearing the type of mask that was popularized during the pandemic.

After folks began filing out of the theater, Smith casually walked along some as they emerged from the darkness and walked into the light.

“Hey, I’m glad y’all enjoyed that,” Smith blurted out as heads turned and people began screaming in disbelief.

“Surprise, when you walk out of Bad Boys Movie and Will Smith Walks out with you after having watched the movie with you!!” the manager who captured the video wrote, adding, “Only at CINEMARK!”

And, after someone in the comments wrote that they would lose their mind in the same scenario, the manager responded, “That’s exactly what happened here!”

When you add that this is a great rebound movie for Smith, who was temporarily exiled from Hollywood after slapping Chris Rock at the theaters, and the fact that many critics state this was the best of the 30-year-old franchise, Smith had a great weekend.