So, it looks like the next bad boys is definitely happening. I didn’t enjoy the 2nd film too much, but the first is a modern-day classic and established the film careers, not just of its stars, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but also that robot fighting magician that is Director Michael Bay. And it appears we will likely have the movie with only 2 of those 3 components in place.
Will Smith had always spoken about his willingness to do more Bad Boy movies and the studios had confirmed they were happening, but there were some doubts over the willingness of his co-star Martin Lawrence to reprise his role. And you do need to have the both of them for it to really be a true Bad Boys movie – dropping that ‘s’ in the title would just not be nearly as much fun. And in the latest news, coming from a BBC radio interview with Mr Smith himself, it has been confirmed that Martin Lawrence is definitely going to be returning for the 3rd Bad Boys film.
Smith went on to drop a little more info on the film and also spoke of his rekindled friendship with his co-star Lawrence:
I saw Martin [Lawrence] a few weeks ago,” Smith reveals. “I haven’t seen him for about two years. We just looked at each other. We hugged. In that moment, we knew we were making another Bad Boys. We’re definitely doing another one.
You can see the full video from Will Smith discussing details of Bad Boys (alongside Concussion, why he isn’t in Independence Day and mostly parenting, if you’re interested) below:
So, the bromance between the two looks set to continue and it’s something which could be rather fun. The chemistry between the two is always entertaining and I have no doubt that given the right script and plot, these two could provide similar chemistry and laughs along with all that action.
As a side note – he confirms that they probably won’t be making a Wild Wild West 2 – well that’s good news, I don’t think I could stomach another one…
One aspect of the film that will be different is that of the director. Michael Bay will not be returning to direct the next film and instead it looks like Joe Carnahan (State of Affairs, The Grey, The A-Team) has pretty much confirmed that he will directing the film instead. The below image was shared by Carnahan recently on his twitter feed, showing a pre-visualization of a shot planned for the movie, with the following text ‘who is the man?… And how bad is he…’ This seems to indicate he is almost definitely taking on the film, after it had been previously reported that he has been in talks over the script for the next film.
Personally, I would’ve loved to see Bay return to direct the picture, but I can understand how he is probably sick of sequels after doing way too many of them with the Transformers movies. His brand of fun, action comedy always suited the tone of the films. Carnahan has built up a good reputation for his action movies though, so he is still a capable and dependable person to fulfil the role.
Columbia Pictures has already penciled in release dates for two more Bad Boys film with Bad Boys 3 set to release on February 17th, 2017 and Bad Boys 4 on July 3rd, 2019.
Are you excited that the Bad Boys are back or is this one of those franchises that they should’ve just left alone?
Last Updated: February 15, 2016
