The new Bad Boys 4 film, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, is on pace to turn a profit after starting hot at the box office.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die kicked off the June box office as an immediate global phenomenon. This came off the heels of a historically low Memorial Day weekend, during which Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga underperformed with a $26.3 million three-day domestic opening.
With the 2024 box office being as volatile as ever, Bad Boys 4 is a beacon of hope, especially for a 29-year-old franchise.
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How Much Has Bad Boys 4 Made at the Box Office So Far?
Bad Boys: Ride or Die exploded into theaters with a commanding domestic opening weekend, grossing $56.5 million while outperforming industry projections.
This latest installment in the beloved franchise continued to captivate audiences worldwide, earning $169 million to date domestically and an impressive $168 million internationally, culminating in a global total of $337 million.
2020's Bad Boys For Life holds every box office record in the franchise, with $206.3 million domestically and $220.2 million internationally ($426.5 million worldwide).
At its current rate, Bad Boys 4 will not earn as much as the third installment but should surpass Bad Boy II's $273.3 million global total.
How Bad Boys 4 Can Be Profitable
For a wide-release summer movie such as Bad Boys 4 to achieve profitability, it generally needs to earn at least double its production budget worldwide.
This calculation considers substantial marketing costs, which are often less transparent than the production costs themselves.
In addition to box office revenue, all theatrical releases eventually generate a "waterfall" income from later digital sales, subscription video on demand, and future TV rights.
The good news for Columbia Pictures and Sony is that this trickle-down effect of continued earnings may not be needed for Bad Boys 4 to turn a profit.
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Will Bad Boys 4 Turn a Profit for Sony Pictures?
Based on its promising box office run, Bad Boys 4 will likely turn a profit for Sony Pictures. Here's the budget, box office, and expected earnings.
2020's Bad Boys for Life proved highly profitable, avoiding the wide theater closures across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This unique early 2020 success made it the top-grossing film of the year in the United States. Even without any records impacted by COVID-19, it became the third-highest-grossing January release of all time.
While Bad Boys 4 won't set as many annual records, it's still ready for great success. Given its reported production budget of $100 million, its box office haul (on track for over $300 million) will undoubtedly make the studio money.
Thus far in 2024, Bad Boys 4 is the sixth-highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, outperforming films like The Fall Guy and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Based on its promising start, Bad Boys 4 is on pace to earn less than Bad Boys 3 in theaters but is projected to make the studio a net profit between $50 million and $100 million.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die is playing in theaters.
