Friday Estimates: Bad Boys Sets January Opening Day Record with $23.5 million

January 18, 2020

Bad Boys for Life earned $23.5 million on Friday, which is the biggest opening day in January, breaking the previous record of $17.16 million set by Cloverfield back in 2008. It is also way more than anticipated, and puts it on pace to crush the opening weekend record for MLK weekend, and all of the associated records. In fact, Sony is projecting a $66 million four-day debut as a result of this start. There are reasons to be bullish, including the film’s solid reviews and its A-rating from CinemaScore. The film is already the biggest hit released in 2020 and if this is a sign of things to come, then we are in for a good year.

Dolittle bounced back after weak previews to earn second place with $6.3 million, but I don’t think it will stay there for long. Its reviews have improved, but they are just 19% positive, while it earned a mere B-rating from CinemaScore, which is terrible for a family film. That said, Universal is still projecting a $31 million four-day opening weekend as a result of this debut, which isn’t a bad start for a live-action family film. It’s a terrible start for a film that cost $175 million to make though.

1917 was right behind with $6.2 million and one would think a holdover that is earning stellar reviews and several Oscar nominations would have better legs over the weekend. However, Universal is projecting $26.6 million four-day long weekend. This is more than enough to push its running tally past $80 million, meaning it remains a lock to reach $100 million domestically.

Jumanji: The Next Level is pulling away in fourth place with $2.18 million on Friday, putting it on pace to earn $12 million over the full four-day weekend.

Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker earned $1.98 million on Friday and that should give it $10 million over the full weekend. The film remains one week away from $500 million domestically and while that is a lot lower than initially predicted, it is still a huge total and more than enough to be massively profitable.

One final note, Weathering with You saw its theater count slashed in half after its special engagement, but it still managed a very impressive $576,000 on Friday, pushing its running tally to $3.62 million since its Wednesday debut. The film’s reviews strongly suggest long legs; however, Anime is still a niche market and these tend to generate Fanboy Effects, which in turn shorten a film’s legs. After all, if you don’t get to see many of your favorite films in theaters, you are more likely to rush out and see it on opening day or weekend.

- Friday Box Office Chart
- Thursday Box Office Chart
- Wednesday Box Office Chart

- Thursday Night Previews
- Weekend Predictions
- Theater Counts

- Biggest Single Day in January
- MLK Long Weekend Opening Record
- 2020 Domestic Box Office Chart

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Friday Estimates, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Bad Boys For Life, Dolittle, Jumanji: The Next Level, 1917, Weathering with You (天気の子)