A good weekend for 'Bad Boys II'

By Lorenza Munoz

July 21, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced “Bad Boys II” blasted into theaters with an estimated $46.7 million this weekend, the fourth-best opening for an R-rated film.

The Sony release’s performance offers another example of the broad appeal of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence but particularly of Smith, whose box office clout is higher on action movies like “Independence Day” or “Men in Black” than serious dramas like “The Legend of Bagger Vance” or “Ali,” which domestically grossed only $30 million and $58 million, respectively. The original “Bad Boys” opened with $15 million the weekend of April 7, 1995, and grossed a total of $65 million domestically. The film played slightly better abroad, grossing $75 million.

About 65% of the “Bad Boys II” audience was white, while the rest was non-white, another indication that the picture has reached well beyond the core audience of African Americans. Surprisingly, the audience was 50% female -- high for an action film -- according to Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Among R films this year, only “The Matrix Reloaded” posted a larger Friday-Sunday opening of $91.8 million in mid-May. “Bad Boys II” also beat the R-rated “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” which brought in $44 million during the Fourth of July weekend.

The original “Bad Boys” was the first directing venture for Michael Bay, who has since gone on to direct “The Rock,” “Armageddon” and “Pearl Harbor,” all for Bruckheimer.

“Bad Boys,” was also the last movie on which Bruckheimer and his late producing partner, Don Simpson, worked together. Simpson died in 1996 of a drug overdose.

Based on its opening, “Bad Boys II” joins “X2: X-Men United” and “The Matrix Reloaded” as the only sequels of the summer performing up to expectations domestically. Both “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “T3” have under-performed in the U.S. but are bigger hits internationally.

The weekend also marked a milestone for Bruckheimer, whose movies occupied the top two spots at the box office. His other picture, Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” dropped only 28% in its second weekend, making it the strongest second-weekend holdover of any movie this summer.

That film, which stars Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, grossed an estimated $33.3 million this weekend for a total gross of $132.2 million.

The other high-grossing Disney picture, “Finding Nemo,” crossed the $300-million mark, bringing in an estimated $303.8 million since its release two months ago.

It is expected to become the highest-grossing animated film within a week, surpassing “The Lion King’s” $312.8-million domestic tally.

In other debuts, New Line Cinema’s teen romance “How to Deal,” opened dismally, grossing an estimated $5.8 million, a little more than half of studio expectations based on audience research.

The Mandy Moore movie suffered from mediocre reviews and strong competition.

Director Stephen Frears’ critically acclaimed immigrant thriller, “Dirty Pretty Things,” opened strongly in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Miramax release grossed a hefty $20,200 per screen for an estimated total of $101,000. On Aug. 1, the film will expand into all top 10 markets.

Universal Pictures’ spy spoof “Johnny English” opened with an estimated $9.3 million this weekend in 2,236 theaters. The comedy, which stars British comedian Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame, has already grossed nearly $117 million outside the U.S.

Meanwhile, Sean Connery’s latest picture, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” dropped 56%. Though not an unusually high drop for a summer movie’s second weekend, it does not bode well for the picture. The film, which cost $70 million to $90 million to make, has grossed an estimated $42.4 million.

To give its scary thriller “28 Days Later” a boost, Fox Searchlight will add an alternative ending Friday, the 29th day of the film’s U.S. release. The film, which is already out on DVD in Europe, will include the darker ending originally conceived by director Danny Boyle.

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Box Office

Preliminary results based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total (millions)

*--*

*--* Bad Boys II $46.7 $46.7

Pirates of the Caribbean 33.3 132.2

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman 10.1 42.5

Johnny English 9.3 9.3

Terminator 3 9.2 127.8

Finding Nemo 7.3 303.8

Legally Blonde 2 6.1 75.4