- The film’s lead actors, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence made the announcement .
Will Smith has announced that the fourth film in the Bad Boys Franchise is set to go ahead.
The good news was shared by on Instagram by both the film’s lead actors, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence on .
Since the pair’s altercation in March 2022 over Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars ceremony, the fourth film's status has been shaky, with rumors that it had been put on hold.
However, it will now move forward. Though the movie only had a short cinema run and has been overlooked at this year's “2023” Oscars, the little public backlash to its release may have reassured other studios that Smith's image can be gradually rehabilitated.
Sony Pictures also confirmed that the currently untitled sequel is in early per-production noting that Adil El Arbi and Billall Fallah will return to direct the fourth installment of the hit franchise, with Chris Bremner writing the script. Westbrook's producers will be Jerry Bruckheimer, Doug Belgrad, Chad Oman, and Smith, with Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Walden, and Jon Mone serving as executive producers.
Fallah and El Arbi, who also directed and co-wrote the feature film Rebel, directed and co-wrote the third film, Bad Boys for Life. The duo also serves as executive producers on the critically acclaimed Marvel series Ms. Marvel, for which they directed both the pilot and the series finale. CAA, Entertainment 360, Ken Lambrechts Artist Management, and Jackoway Austen represent Fallah and El Arbi. CAA also represents Smith and Waldman, while UTA represents Lawrence.
Although the first Bad Boys movie in 1995 made a mere $65 million at the domestic box office, the 2003 release, Bad Boys II, made over $138 million domestically. The 2020 third picture in the series grossed an astonishing $206 million domestically and another $220 million internationally and now comes the fourth one.