Will Smith, Martin Lawrence will Return as Miami Cops Again for 'Bad Boys 4' Reuniting with Directors of 'Bad Boys for Life'

by Darian Scalamoni

    It was revealed this past Tuesday via Will Smith's social media that the Oscar-winning actor will reunite with Martin Lawrence for a fourth installment in the Bad Boys franchise. The Michael Bay-produced film series last had a theatrical release in 2020 with Bad Boys for Life, which was the highest-grossing film of that year. Though that was the last big film release prior to the pandemic and that metric could be viewed with an asterisk, it doesn't take away from the accomplishment nor the clamoring for movie-goers to see these two on screen again.

    If you've never seen a Bad Boys film, the franchise follows longtime friends and partners, Mike Lowery (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) in the buddy cop format patrolling the streets of Miami, Florida. The three films have grossed over $840 million worldwide since the first film launched the series back in 1995. Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will return to helm Bad Boys 4 from a script written by Chris Bremner, who recently penned Netflix film, The Man from Toronto. The directing duo previously spent their last year working on the cancelled comic book flick, Batgirl for Warner Bros. and also helmed episodes of Ms. Marvel for Disney+.

    Smith (King Richard, I Am Legend) is coming off his lead role in slavery drama Emancipation for AppleTV+. This is his first big budget casting following the controversy of last year's Academy Awards where Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage. Smith is also set to reunite with Concussion director Peter Landesman for The Council where he'll play real-life gangster Nicky Barnes. Lawrence (Martin, Big Momma's House) recently appeared in the action film Mindcage opposite John Malkovich. 

    What are your thoughts on Bad Boys 4 heading into pre-production? Are you willing to see a film starring Will Smith, post-Oscars controversy?