'Bad Boys 4' Arrives On VOD As A Big Box Office Triumph For... Martin Lawrence?

We already know Sony's action comedy sequel is a needed triumph for Will Smith, but how does it measure up for the career of his slightly less famous co-star?

With $188 million in domestic grosses as it arrives this week on PVOD and EST, Bad Boys: Ride or Die has passed Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Chapter 4 to become the second-biggest (behind Oppenheimer) R-rated movie since Bad Boys For Life ($206 million) in early 2020. It has also taken its place behind Bad Boys 3 as the second-biggest R-rated, non-wartime real-world action movie ever (sans inflation) in North America. The leggy success of Sony’s $100 million action comedy sequel ($388 million worldwide and already 3.35x its $56 million domestic debut) affirmed that Will Smith was still a butts-in-seats movie star in a franchise (Men in Black III) or as a marquee character (the Genie in Aladdin). It also affirmed the comparatively unheralded (situational) bankability of co-star Martin Lawrence.