It took Sony 17 years, but the latest Bad Boys sequel appears to be paying off, taking in an estimated $59.2 million for the start of a US holiday weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

Bad Boys for Life stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking detectives who reunite after years apart (Bad Boys II dates from 2003, eight years after the original Bad Boys) to take on a murderous Miami drug cartel.

Its North American ticket sales - estimated at $68.1 million when Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is included - are nearly twice original predictions, according to variety.com.

Another new release, Universal's Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr., placed second with an estimated $22.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period ($30 million for the four days).

Dolittle, based on a beloved children's book about a veterinarian who can talk to the animals, has been savaged by critics - who have called it "utterly lifeless," "a quicksand of a movie" and "shockingly unfunny." 

The presence of Downey, hugely popular in the Marvel superhero films, and of an all-star voice cast including Emma Thompson, Ralph Fiennes, Antonio Banderas, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer and Marion Cotillard, may have helped boost its fortunes.

In third was a film that has done rather better with the critics, last weekend's box-office leader, 1917, also from Universal. The World War I drama has booked $22.1 million in ticket sales ($27 million for four days).

One critic called the Sam Mendes movie, filmed as if in one long, continuous shot, a "protean display of virtuoso filmmaking."

Despite a lack of big stars, it has won both the Golden Globe and the Producers Guild of America awards for best drama, and  is now seen as a best-picture favorite at the Oscars.

Sony's Jumanji: The Next Level, slid one spot from last weekend to fourth, taking in $9.6 million ($12.6 million). The action sequel stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart.  

Fifth spot went to Disney's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, at $8.4 million ($10.6 million). Globally, the finale of the nine-film Skywalker Saga has now surpassed the $1 billion mark.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Just Mercy ($6 million; $7.5 million for four days)

Little Women ($5.9 million; $7.4 million)

Knives Out ($4.3 million; $5.3 million)

Like a Boss ($3.8 million; $4.5 million)

Frozen II ($3.7 million; $5.1 million)