Theater counts: Garfield staves off Bad Boys to remain widest release

June 6, 2024

Last weekend was another sluggish one at the domestic box office, with two films in their sophomore weekend vying for bragging rights. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie went head to head, with the latter taking the top prize. Fortunately, we should see a substantial uptick this weekend with the debut of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, as well as the horror feature, The Watchers.

Starting out in 3,885 cinemas, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise which has spanned nearly 30 years at this point. The latest installment should have little trouble propelling the franchise past the $1 billion mark as it currently enjoys a global total of $839 million through the first three films. The buddy cop action-comedy brings back the Bad Boys themselves, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, reprising their roles as Detective Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett respectively. Directing duo Adil & Bilall return to direct the feature after helming 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, a film that went on to score $204 million from domestic showings while earning just over $220 million from overseas play.

Also opening in wide release is the supernatural horror film The Watchers, which is written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan while being produced by her father, veteran filmmaker, M. Night Shyamalan. It will mark the directorial debut of the younger Shyamalan and features Dakota Fanning, who plays an artist who gets stranded in a remote Irish forest where she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night. Based on the novel of the same name by A.M. Shine, The Watchers will be available 3,351 movie houses.

Rounding out the top five this weekend is the aforementioned widest release (for the second consecutive week) in The Garfield Movie, dropping below 4,000 locations for a total of 3,959 theaters. Still widely available in 3,582 venues is IF, ready to spring into its fourth weekend at the box office. Lastly, residing as the fifth-widest release is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, kicking off its fifth weekend by showing in 3,155 venues.

For Lord of the Rings franchise fans, Fathom Events will release extended edition versions of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring starting June 8, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on June 9, and finally, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on June 10th.

Looking ahead to next weekend we see only one wide release make its theatrical debut in the way of Inside Out 2. The animated sequel is expected to start out in approximately 4,200 locations.

Filed under: Theater Counts, Bad Boys, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, M. Night Shyamalan, Ishana Night Shyamalan