10 More Huge Box Office Hits NOBODY Saw Coming

Speaking of those long-awaited sequels many felt would perhaps struggle to really kick ass at the box office, the return of the Bad Boys franchise in 2020 initially felt like little more than another lazy attempt to revive a once-popular franchise - one that would no doubt flop worldwide.

17 years on from the second instalment's rather poor critical reception and not quite as impressive box office haul, though, Bad Boys For Life went on to become a quite remarkable hit.

Despite landing in the dreaded month of January in theatres - a period where movies are typically sent out to die - this third entry in the franchise still managed to pull in a huge $426 million on a $90 million budget. Not only did this Adil & Bilall picture become the highest-grossing film of the series, and end 2020 as the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office (largely due to the global pandemic via Box Office Mojo), it also became the strongest rated of the Bad Boys trilogy.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's irresistible chemistry, a bunch of glorious action set-pieces, and just the right amount of impactful drama sprinkled in, Bad Boys For Life was that rarest and most surprising of things - a franchise revival that both didn't crush your soul and earned all of the money.

And unsurprisingly, a follow-up is also set to drop this year.