Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life” will take No. 1 for a third time with a third weekend total of $17.7 million, leading on a traditionally slow weekend for the box office as audiences stay home for the Super Bowl.
With a running domestic total of $148 million, “Bad Boys for Life” has passed the domestic run of “Bad Boys II,” which made $138.6 million in 2003. To pass its predecessor’s North American performance after inflation adjustment, the new film will need to pass $192.5 million.
“Bad Boys for Life” also outperformed the combined openings of this weekend’s new releases, United Artists/Orion’s “Gretel and Hansel” and Paramount’s “The Rhythm Section.” “Gretel and Hansel,” which was produced on a reported $5 million budget, met tracker expectations with a $6 million weekend from 3,007 screens.
That result is good enough to put it fourth on the weekend charts for now, though Monday’s charts could see it slide to sixth as “Jumanji: The Next Level” is just behind it with $5.9 million grossed this weekend — and a domestic total of $291 million after eight weekends — while STX’s “The Gentlemen” also grossed $6 million in its second weekend. “Gretel and Hansel” has received mixed reviews, earning a C- on CinemaScore and a 56% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics.
“The Rhythm Section,” meanwhile, joins “Gemini Man” and “Terminator: Dark Fate” as the latest box office bust for Paramount. The spy revenge thriller starring Blake Lively is estimated to earn just $2.7 million from 3,049 screens against a $50 million budget. The film has received poor reviews with a 30% Rotten Tomatoes score and a C+ on CinemaScore.
It’s another bomb for Paramount after a 2019 in which the studio failed to release a film that grossed over $100 million domestic and saw its North American grosses drop 27% year over year. Paramount will be looking for a long overdue rebound in the next few months, starting on February 14 with “Sonic the Hedgehog” and followed by sequels to “A Quiet Place” and “Top Gun” later this year. All three films are expected to have an advertising presence during the Super Bowl broadcast this evening.
Among holdovers, Universal’s “1917” added $9.6 million this weekend to bring its North American total to $119 million, while fellow Universal release “Dolittle” added $7.7 million for a $55 million total after three weekends. Farther down the charts, Best Picture nominee “Little Women” is nearing $100 million domestic after adding just under $3 million this weekend to bring its total to $98.6 million.