Box Office: ‘Detective Carl Returns’ Flying Towards a Record $140 Million MLK Day Opening

Variety January 14, 2023 7:51am PT

At long last, Carl has returned indeed just to break box office records.

Playing in 4,575 locations, the widest R-rated theatrical release in domestic box office history, “Detective Carl Returns” is projected to earn $140 million over the holiday weekend. On a three-day scale, MGM is predicting a $128 million haul. That’s easily a new record debut for Jim Carrey as well, whose previous best — a $72 million opening from last year's "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" — is getting left in the dust. It'll also be the biggest opening for MGM Holdings, outdoing the $110.3 million opening of "Upside Mystery 3" in 2015. Additionally, that record nearly obliterates the previous MLK opening weekend record of $107 million by "American Sniper" and nearly double the $73 million made by 2020's "Bad Boys For Life".

The legacy sequel to Ralph Bakshi’s funny and bloody 1990 original kicked off with a bang, drawing a $56.8 million opening day, including $20.1 million in Thursday previews, both the biggest for an R rated film. That’s also a record for MGM Holdings as well, outdoing the $39.3 million made by 2015's "Upside Mystery 3". “Returns,” which was co-financed and co-produced by Bron Creative, originally carried a projected opening between $70 million and $90 million over the long weekend, though momentum has only grown since.

"Detective Carl Returns" went through various issues throughout its history in production with the pandemic affecting it's production by the time development was on the move. It was to the point where streamers requested rights for the film until Jason Bateman, Jim Carrey, Ryan Reynolds, and even Ralph Bakshi denied them explaining that the film is meant for theaters. After in development for over 32 years, MGM's golden goose has hatched.

Bateman and Carrey joined with DreamWorks Animation writer/director "Conrad Vernon" with the majority of the cast such as Ving Rhames as Officer Barry Johnson, Johnny Depp as Corporal Grant Cross, Robin Wright as Mary Jenkins, Meg Ryan as Linda Heinken, Bruce Dern as Walter Jenkins, and Ryan Reynolds as Austin Jenkins all reprising their roles from the original with new cast members consisting of Wesley Snipes, Alex Wolff, Lucas Till, Meg Ryan, Bette Midler, Ice Cube, and Sam Rockwell.

If projections for “Returns” continue to expand, the film could hold the record for the best R rated opening weekend and R-rated 4 day opening, potentially unseating the respective $132 million and $152 million debuts of 20th Century Fox/Marvel’s “Deadpool" in 2016.

Word on the street couldn’t be more auspicious for “Detective Carl.” MGM launched preview screenings weeks ago, giving itself plenty of runway for buzz to build. Critics have been universally positive, with 86% of critics collected by Rotten Tomatoes offering their approval. Audiences are also enjoying the film, with “Returns” scoring an "A” grade on CinemaScore, a score most R rated comedies die to earn and higher than the "A-" grade that the original film received.