Weekend Box Office Jan 31-Feb 2-- Bad Boys For Life Breaks A Record

It's been a fascinating weekend for movies, with two new records being broken. Bad Boys For Life finished on top with $17.7 million, while the two new wide releases opened below expectations, and The Rhythm Section did particularly poorly.

Bad Boys For Life has now earned $148,051,531 in its first 16 days of release, according to Box Office Mojo. As Forbes points out, that makes it the highest grossing film to ever release in January. The spot was previously occupied by a movie you might not have guessed--Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which earned $146,336,178 following its January 16, 2009 release.

There's a reason for this. January is often a dumping ground for studios, when movies that are obviously not going to be part of the awards conversation or play well over summer are released. Bad Boys For Life has been such a huge success that a fourth movie in the series has already been greenlit.

On the other end of the scale, The Rhythm Section broke a different record--it had the worst opening ever for a movie releasing on over 3000 screens. Going into the weekend, estimates put the film at earning around $5 million, which would have been the fifth worst weekend for a movie opening this wide; instead, it earned just $2.8 million and took the number one spot. The movie earned an average of $918 per screen, which makes it the first movie ever to release this wide and bring in a per-screen average below $1000.

The film earned so-so reviews, and the star power of Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown does not seem to have been enough to get this action film off the ground. The weekend's other new release, Gretel & Hansel, brought in $6,050,830, which still isn't great--it's the 18th lowest opening for a movie on over 3000 screens.

Here's the full domestic top ten for the weekend of January 31 through February 2.

1. Bad Boys for Life: $17,675,000
2. 1917: $9,660,000
3. Dolittle: $7,700,000
4. Gretel & Hansel: $6,050,830
5. The Gentlemen: $6,010,000
6. Jumanji: The Next Level: $6,000,000
7. Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker: $3,193,000
8. The Turning: $3,050,000
9. Little Women: $3,015,000
10. The Rhythm Section: $2,800,000

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