The long delayed sequel for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's Bad Boys franchise finally arrived this past weekend with their third installment, Bad Boys for Life. Even with a 17-year gap between films, the franchise showed that it still has some legs and was a hit with critics, earning a current 75 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a solid 59 Metacritic rating. Thanks to that, the film debuted to an estimated $59.2 million over the three days since opening to lead the field and top the box office.
Debuting in second place was this weekend's second major release, Dolittle. Costing an expensive $175 million thanks to costly reshoots, Universal Pictures' reboot of the classic character managed to open with $22.5 million, less than what the studio was hoping for from star Robert Downey Jr.'s first post-Marvel movie, but ahead of industry expectations.
In third place was last week's number one film, 1917. Coming off its expanded release and 10 Oscar nominations, the Sam Mendes-directed war drama fared well in its second weekend of wide release. The film only saw a slight dip, as audiences have responded well to the critically-acclaimed movie. Thanks to that, 1917 finished with $22.1 million at the box office this past weekend, bringing its domestic total to $76.8 million.
Falling to fourth was Sony's Jumanji: The Next Level. The latest film in the burgeoning Jumanji franchise finished with $9.6 million over the three-day weekend to bring its 38-day total to $270.5 million domestically. Although the film has fallen shy of its predecessor's pace, The Next Level is a hit nonetheless.
Rounding out the top 5 was the conclusion to the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Now in its fifth weekend of release, the latest Star Wars film finished with $8.4 million at the box office. The film's 31-day total now stands at $492 million domestically and should cross the $500 million threshold sometime next week after passing the $1 billion mark worldwide earlier this week. ~Paolo Maquiraya