which is helmed by Adil and Bilall, Lowery and Burnett investigate a series of murders that are connected to Lowery's troubled past. Paola Núñez, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam, and Joe Pantoliano also star in important roles. Bad Boys for Life went through several attempts to enter production over the course of a decade before filming in June 2019 and releasing theatrically on January 17, 2020.
Developed with a budget of $90 million, Bad Boys for Life was expected to gross $48 million over the full four-day MLK Weekend. The movie released alongside the Robert Downey Jr. starrer Dolittle, which was expected to pose as a significant competitor. But in its debut weekend, Bad Boys Life sured all expectations and amassed a total of $73.4 million at the domestic box office. It finished second only after Sam Mendes' holdover 1917, but in the second and third weekends, the film rose to first place. Although Sony Pictures had rolled out the movie in theaters before the outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S., the film was ultimately affected by the pandemic. Theaters stopped screening the movie mid-March due to social distancing protocols, and it wasn't until May that screenings were even partially restored. Bad Boys for Life was released through VOD in March, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD in April.
According to Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which was released on February 14. Dolittle itself ranks 7th among the domestic high-grossers of 2020, followed by Universal's The Invisible Man and 20th Century Studios' Call of the Wild, which rank 9th and 10th on the list respectively. DCEU's Birds of Prey, which was released on February 7, finished 6th on the list. Bad Boys for Life is also the second-highest-grossing movie at the international box-office. It only follows the Chinese film, The Eight Hundred, which released on August 21.
Undoubtedly, 2020 was an anomaly in the history of global cinema. The year was without the usual summer blockbusters, with the exception of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. And even the holiday releases were curbed due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in several states in the U.S. And now that a new variant of the disease has surfaced, the theatrical disaster can be expected to continue for the coming months. Through all of this, Bad Boys for Life has endured and emerged a successful movie. Besides being the highest-grossing film of the year, Bad Boys for Life is also the best-earning film in the Bad Boys franchise as well as the best-earning January release ever.
It's true that had 2020 been a normal year, Bad Boys for Life would have likely fallen down several spots on the list of the highest-grossing 2020 films. But that doesn't mean the film was in any way inferior. An action-packed narrative, coupled with Smith's leading-man charisma, has earned Bad Boys for Life immense critical acclaim. The movie has been hailed for performing well during its release period, successfully reinvigorating a long-dormant franchise. Given the film's box-office performance and critical reception, it only makes sense that Sony has announced its plans for a fourth Bad Boys movie.
Source: Box Office Mojo
