“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” revives the summer box office with Will Smith's return to theaters

The film debuted to $56 million in the U.S., after weeks of summer releases underperforming.

They ride together, they die together, and they reboot the box office together.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back in theaters — and a large audience has followed them. Bad Boys: Ride or Die — the fourth installment in the long-running Bad Boys franchise — snagged the top spot this weekend, earning a much needed $56 million boost to the domestic box office after weeks of low returns at theaters across the nation. Abroad, the film earned another $48.6 million, for a global cume of $104.6 million, per Comscore.

Thus far, summer blockbuster contenders have arrived to disappointment: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga made headlines with its soft $25.5 million opening weekend and even its family-friendly competitor The Garfield Movie, failed to make a big splash. Star vehicles — including David Leitch’s The Fall Guy and John Krasinski’s family fantasy IF — haven’t fared much better, leaving box office pundits to question the future of summer blockbusters. But it appears not all hope is lost.

Related: What to remember from Bad Boys for Life before you see Bad Boys: Ride or Die

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Ride or Die reunites career detectives Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) but flips the script, this time forcing them to work on the other side of the law following the revelation of a massive corruption conspiracy that turns them into outlaws.

“At this point in my life, I need the movies to be about something,” Smith told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film’s release. “Part of why Bad Boys works for people is at the heart of it is friendship. At the heart of it is love. At the heart of it is a relationship, and it's the kind of relationship that we all wish we had, somebody that will ride or die with us and for us.”

The film is also a comeback of sorts for Smith, as it marks his first theatrical release since King Richard — the role that earned him an Oscar win on the same night that he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony.

Related: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence tease future movies after Bad Boys: Ride or Die ending

In second place is the lasagna-eating feline who leads The Garfield Movie. In between hating Mondays and pulling off a grand heist, the orange cat earned another $10 million towards a $68.6 million domestic tally. The film’s global cume now sits at $192.7 million.

From The Quiet Place filmmaker Krasinski — and featuring a star-studded cast led by Ryan Reynolds — IF took third in its fourth week of release, with $8 million, for a domestic cume of $93.5 million ($160.7 million globally). Following the story of a young girl who discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends, the film boasts an all-star voice cast that includes the late, great Louis Gossett Jr., Steve Carrell, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Related: All the cameos in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, from Michael Bay to DJ Khaled

In fourth is The Watchers, the feature directorial debut of Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of  M. Night Shyamalan. The horror film opened to $7 million, earning another $4.7 million abroad for a tally of $11.7 million.

The horror flick stars Dakota Fanning as 28-year-old artist Mina, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. Though she finds shelter with three strangers, she quickly learns that danger remains in the form of mysterious, unseen creatures who lurk in the nighttime and observe them through a one-way window.

Rounding out fifth is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which clung to its spot in the top 5 despite dropping 40 percent from last weekend's earnings. The films added $5.4 million to its $149.7 million tally, for a global total of $359.7 million. 

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.