1917arrived in wide release last weekend at the box office and earned a better than expected $37 million. While the possible frontrunner for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards looks to have itself a fine second frame nationwide after a decent run in limited release, a pair of new releases are likely to see the prestige war drama surrender the crow. Sony’sBad Boys for Lifeand Universal’sDolittleare both set to hit theaters this weekend.
Bad Boys for Liferepresents the long-awaited return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Mike Lowrey and Markus Burnett. When last we saw the cop duo, the year was 2003 and the movie was Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II. This time around, up-and-coming filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are directing, and things are looking good. It’s expected to bring in between $35 and $40 million, which would represent a solid start at thebox office. The movie currently holds a 77 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which could give it an extra edge heading into the weekend.
Next up we have something of a curious case withDolittle. This represents the first movie from Robert Downey Jr. since last year’s record-shatteringAvengers: Endgame, which not only concluded his run as Iron Man in the MCU, but also went on to become the highest-grossing movie ever. However, the Stephen Gaghan-directed take on the Dr. Dolittle tale isn’t shaping up to be a success. The family-friendly epic comes with a massive price tag, said to be in $175 million range. To make matters worse, it currently boasts just a 13 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s looking at a debut in the $20 million range, which could position this as an early contender for the biggest bomb of 2020.
1917, on the flipside, should prove to be a bright spot for Universal, who also suffered a big flop recently withCats. The Sam Mendes World War I epic has grossed $71.9 million worldwide, as of this writing, and recently took home a Best Picture award at the Golden Globes. With its recent slew of Oscar nominations, the movie should have long legs over the coming weeks. It’s expected to pull in $20 million or so, which means it could easily topDolittlecome Monday.
Also of note this weekend, Fox’sUnderwaterwill drop out of the top five after just one week, making the $80 million sci-fi flick a sizable bust. Elsewhere,Jumanji: The Next Levelcould cross the $700 million mark worldwide, all but ensuring another sequel in the coming years. Be sure to check out our full list of weekend box office predictions below and check back with us on Sunday for the weekend estimates. Numbers used in this report were provided byBox Office Mojo.
