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The movie's star snuck into the theater on Friday night to watch his new film before surprising fans in the audience.
By Hilary Lewis
Deputy Editor, East Coast, THR.com
Will Smith snuck into a Los Angeles movie theater on Friday night to watch his new movie, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, alongside a paying audience.
The actor documented his night out on social media.
“We’re in Baldwin Hills. We’re about to go in the theater,” Smith says in the video of his theatrical visit. “It’s a ritual I have, when I have a movie come out. On Friday, Saturday, usually a matinee on Sunday, I like going to the theaters.”
Smith is then shown sporting a mask while watching his film with fans.
After the movie ended, Smith revealed to shocked moviegoers that he had been watching the film with them. A growing crowd seemed excited to see Smith and captured photos and videos. One fan gave the movie a “10 out of 10” and Smith thanked him.
A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)
Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth film in the hit Bad Boys franchise and is being seen as a possible comeback vehicle for star Will Smith, who appears alongside fellow franchise star Martin Lawrence. Bad Boys 4 is the first major theatrical film Smith has appeared in since he memorably slapped Chris Rock onstage at the 2022 Oscars, which sparked widespread backlash against the superstar and led to a 10-year ban for the actor from Film Academy events. Smith apologized multiple times for what happened but has kept a relatively low profile since the slap, until he began promoting Bad Boys 4 in earnest. The film even features a slap moment of its own reminiscent of Smith and Rock’s onstage altercation.
The movie is off to a strong start at the domestic box office and is expected to earn $53 million for the weekend, according to Saturday estimates. Bad Boys: Ride or Die racked up $21.6 million on Friday including $5.9 million in Thursday night previews. The success of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which has received generally positive reviews and an A- CinemaScore, should be welcome news after a brutal start to the summer box office in May.
Smith’s agents at CAA have been calling studio production execs in recent weeks for the first time since the slap to explore possible projects, hoping to quickly announce the actor’s next film, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Ride or Die finds Smith and Lawrence’s Miami cops, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, on the run after their late police captain gets linked to drug cartels, and they try to clear his name. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (billed as Adil & Bilall) directed Bad Boys: Ride or Die from a script written by Chris Bremner and Will Beall.
Ride or Die predecessor Bad Boys For Life, also directed by Adil & Bilall, revived the franchise when it opened in January 2020, earning $426 million at the global box office before movie theaters were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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