‘Bad Boys for Life’ nabs record $6.4M in previews, ‘Dolittle’ limps to $925K
Robert Downey Jr.’s ‘Dolittle’ hopes to make up ground as families become available. Bad Boys for Life’ made quite an impression at the Thursday box office, earning a January-best $6.4 million in previews. The threequel, reteaming Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, opens 17 years after the last installment in Sony’s action comedy franchise. The R-rated […]
Robert Downey Jr.’s ‘Dolittle’ hopes to make up ground as families become available.
Bad Boys for Life’ made quite an impression at the Thursday box office, earning a January-best $6.4 million in previews.
The threequel, reteaming Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, opens 17 years after the last installment in Sony’s action comedy franchise. The R-rated pic is tracking to earn $38 million to $50 million over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Unless the film is front loaded, the higher end is now likely.
The previous best January preview gross belonged to Clint Eastwood’s ‘American Sniper’ ($5.3 million).
‘Bad Boys 3’ cost $90 million to produce before marketing. Years in the making, the R-rated pic was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and co-stars Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam and Joe Pantoliano.
Universal’s PG-rated family pic ‘Dolittle’ started off with $925,000 in Thursday previews. The troubled film, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the vet who can talk to animals, has been ravaged by critics. The hope is that traffic will pick up as kids and parents become available.
‘Dolittle’ – marking Downey’s first turn on the big screen post-Iron Man – is tracking for a four-day gross of $22 million to $28 million, a disappointing start for a movie that cost a net $175 million to produce before marketing.
The last ‘Dolittle’ movie, starring Eddie Murphy, hit the big screen 19 years ago.
The 2020 movie, directed and co-written by Stephen Gaghan (‘Syriana, Traffic’), was supposed to open last May, but its release was delayed in order to rework parts of the story and complete reshoots.
The pic’s current Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 13 percent, one of the worst of Downey’s career. (‘Bad Boys’’ score is 76 percent.)
Downey stars alongside Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen in live-action roles, while the voice cast includes Rami Malek, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Emma Thompson, Tom Holland, Selena Gomez, Marion Cotillard and John Cena.
The timing of ‘Dolittle’ isn’t ideal for Universal following the box office bomb ‘Cats’ (both films rely heavily on VFX effects).
A much-needed balm for Universal is the early success of Sam Mendes awards frontrunner 1917. Last weekend, the World War I epic opened well ahead of expectations and could earn $25 million or more this weekend for Universal and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment after picking up 10 top Oscar nominations on Monday, including for best picture.
Source: THR.com