Will Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles in “Bad Boys”?
The buddy cop adventure genre is never lacking in Hollywood blockbusters. Movies like Rush Hour, Money Talks, and National Security have all been box office successes. Bad Boys has wowed audiences since its 1995 premiere and has been a classic since.
Will Smith is getting back to work—and hoping that audiences will join him.
Via an Instagram video posted on Tuesday, the beleaguered actor joined Martin Lawrence to announce they’ll be re-teaming up for a fourth Bad Boys movie.
The sequel marks Smith’s first recent project since the star whacked Chris Rock during the previous Oscars telecast after the host took a dig at the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, an incident that led to a 10-year ban from the Academy Awards.
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An apologetic and oftentimes morose Smith has been on a public apology tour ever since but was in high spirits—apparently back to the characteristically energetic, good-natured personality he was long known for before the attack on Rock—in announcing Bad Boys 4.
In the Instagram video, Smith flirts with a huge reveal as he excitedly films himself driving somewhere. He then knocks on the door of a house, where he’s greeted by Lawrence. “Is it about that time?” his longtime coworker asks as he opens the door.
It’s about that time,” Smith says, filming the both of them, selfie-style. “It’s official! “Bad Boys 4 Life, y’all!”
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence follow with some amusing jesting about their last film, the 2020 trilogy Bad Boys for Life, already employing that title.
“We shouldn’t have called it that,” cracks Smith. The announcement comes at a critical juncture in Smith’s recovery, as her upcoming projects were reportedly delayed in the aftermath of the Oscars incident.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix “quietly paused” his CIA thriller Fast and Loose, while Sony slowed development on Bad Boys 4. (In July, however, Lawrence dismissed the noti6on that Bad Boys 4 was not happening as a result, telling Ebony they had “at least” one more sequel still planned.)
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Will Smith and Martin Lawerence had already filmed the slavery escape drama Emancipation, which premiered on Apple TV+ in December to mixed reviews and little fanfare.
In interviews, the actor acknowledged that some viewers may not be ready to forgive him, while several Academy members polled said they would not even consider nominating him (while Smith is banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years, he can still be nominated). Bad Boys 4 could be just the vehicle Smith needs to rev up his career again.
