Will Smith’s new “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” opens tonight, playing just a 7pm show in most theaters.
Real screenings on a regular schedule begin tomorrow.
So far, tonight’s 7pm shows have healthy sales. But starting tomorrow, the seat maps at theaters for the Sony Pictures release are generally open.
Most theaters have five or six seats sold, and the rest available in standard and IMAX forms.
Reviews for “Ride or Die” on Rotten Tomatoes are a mediocre 68%. It’s not rotten, but not exactly fresh. Most reviewers agree this is a stale idea, but it’s nice seeing Smith and Martin Lawrence at least for a few minutes.
Smith has mostly been kept away from doing anything but controlled big crowd appearances, answering no questions about his infamous 2022 Oscars debacle when he slapped Chris Rock violently on stage in front of millions of international viewers. People magazine, which couldn’t get an interview, shilled for Smith and ran an anonymous source’s quote that the person who did the slapping “wasn’t him.”
It sure looked like him.
Theater owners don’t care. They want a big weekend for “Ride or Die.” It’s unclear how that will turn out.
A couple of Chicago theaters:
