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Will Smith's latest movie from the Bad Boys franchise, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, debuted with $56 million at the US box office and $104.6 million globally since its release on June 7, 2024. This marks the actor's first movie since his infamous incident at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, when he slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage after the latter mocked Jada Smith's shaved head.
On social media, Will Smith's fans celebrated his return to the big screen in a beloved film franchise that is doing well worldwide since fans feared the assault would result in ending his career. One person tweeted:
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Fans doubled down on supporting the actor in the aftermath of the incident, claiming that Will Smith's career would have been sustained regardless as many black people didn't like Chris Rock.
"Will Smiths career was never gonna be over or even halted behind that slap, cuz actual black people never f*cked with Chris Rock like that to care enough. He slapped the right black person," one fan said.
"White people realizing in real time that black people don't even care about Chris Rock like that," another added.
"Chris Rock got b*tch slapped. The rest of the world: Ohh no! Anyway…" someone wrote.
"Black people were not about to cancel Will Smith, especially not over Chris Rock," wrote someone else.
Others mocked Chris Rock, wondering if the comedian was doing okay after seeing Smith's success at the box office.
"Is Chris Rock and his friends are ok?" tweeted someone.
"I LIKE MARTIN LAWRENCE AS A COMEDIAN MUCH MORE THAN CHRIS ROCK. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE BAD BOYS 4!!" added another.
Will Smith's Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the first major film of summer 2024 to perform well at the box office
The movie industry has weathered tough times this summer, with George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth, and David Leitch's The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, underperforming at the box office.
According to Variety, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth of the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence franchise, has had a fruitful opening weekend, collecting $104.6 million globally and earning an A- CinemaScore in North America since its release on June 7. The $100 million movie also has a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.0 rating on IMDb.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, is the follow-up to the third installment, Bad Boys for Life, which earned $426 million at the global box office in 2020 before the theatres shut down because of the pandemic.
The fourth movie tells the story of Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett as they investigate corruption in their department. However, they are ultimately forced to go on the run and work outside the law when a setup goes wrong.
The buddy-cop action comedy franchise debuted nearly three decades ago when Bad Boys, directed by Michael Bay, premiered on April 7, 1995. This was followed by Bad Boys 2, which was released in 2003.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is Will Smith's first theatrical release since his assault on Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, which earned him a 10-year ban from Film Academy events, including the Oscars. However, the actor is still eligible for Oscar nominations.
