Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, the franchise’s key stars, have officially announced Bad Boys 4 on Instagram. It will be directed by Fallah and El Arbi, who also worked on Bad Boys 3. Sony has also confirmed that the picture is now in early pre-production at the studio. After Will Smith’s infamous Oscar incident with Chris Rock, there were concerns about whether the picture would ever be created, but Sony’s Tom Rothman squashed those suspicions by stating that the project was actually in production.
Chris Bremner will write the script for the next detective picture, which will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Doug Belgrad, Chad Oman, and Will Smith. Martin Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman, and Jon Mone will serve as executive producers.
How did Will Smith and Martin Lawrence share the news in Bad Boys 4?
Will Smith just posted a video on Instagram with the caption:
“IT’S GETTING CLOSE TO THAT TIME!”
In the footage, Smith is seen getting into his vehicle and traveling to an unknown destination while conversing and filming himself on camera. He was even seen dancing to Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee from the 2003 Bad Boys II album.
Smith stated:
“I wish I were you, unaware of what I’m about to show you.”
He then arrives at his destination and knocks on a glass door. Martin Lawrence arrives when the door glides open. Mike and Marcus reunited for the announcement of Bad Boy 4.
Lawrence screams.
“It’s getting close to that moment!”
Smith replied, “For life,” but they both eventually recognized that the pun may have referred to a future film rather than the one that had already been published.
View this post on Instagram
Smith went on to say:
“We probably shouldn’t have named it that.”
Lawrence tagged Smith in the video and shared it on his Instagram. Lawrence provided an update on the project in an interview on the cover of Ebony magazine 2022. He stated that the Oscar event will not hinder the film’s production.
He stated:
“We have at least one more.”
He went on to discuss the cultural influence that the first Bad Boys picture, released in 1995, had. He stated:
“It was enormous. It was crucial for us to get together and show that we can deliver and draw people into the box office — that two Black stars, two comedy stars, could generate money at the box office.”
The first film made $141 million worldwide in 1995, while the 2003 sequel Bad Boys II grossed $273 million. Bad Boys for Life, the franchise’s third entry, earned $436 million worldwide, outperforming its predecessors combined.
