Bad Boys 4: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announce new film as Sony Pictures boss denies Oscars slap delayed project
Film will be one of Smith’s most high-profile new projects since his Oscars slap
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Your support makes all the difference.Will Smith is teaming up again with Martin Lawrence for a fourth Bad Boys film, it has been announced.
In a clip shared to Instagram on Tuesday (31 January) afternoon, an excitable Smith told his fans to “stop scrolling” as he had news to be shared.
Smith filmed himself driving in his car, with his camera in one hand, while the destination was bleeped out.
“I wish I was y’all, not knowing what I’m about to show you,” he said.
Smith then pulled in, telling the camera: “We here. We go.” After knocking on the door, it was opened to reveal his Bad Boys co-star Martin Lawrence. Smith yelled his name, while the actors repeated that it was “about that time”.
“It’s official, y’all,” Smith said, with Lawrence adding: “Y’all know what it is, right?”
“It’s official. ‘Bad Boys for life’. ‘4’ life,” Smith said, while the pair joked about the semantics of the third film already being called Bad Boys for Life. “We shouldn’t have called it that,” Smith said. “The ‘3’ was the ‘E’... But this is Bad Boys 4. It’s official.”
Sony Pictures confirmed that the currently untitled Bad Boys sequel was in early pre-production.
While the Bad Boys sequel is one of Smith’s first major film projects since his infamous altercation at the 2022 Oscars, in which he jumped on stage and slapped Chris Rock, Sony Pictures chair Tom Rothman disputed that the slap had caused the project to be delayed.
“There weren’t any brakes to pump because the car wasn’t moving,” Rothman said.
“That was a very unfortunate thing that happened, and I don’t think it’s really my place to comment, except to say that I’ve known Will Smith for many years, and I know him to be a good person. That was an example of a very good person having a very bad moment, in front of the world. I believe his apology and regret is genuine, and I believe in forgiveness and redemption.”
Released in 1995, the first Bad Boys film sees Smith and Lawrence star as two detectives working to solve a murder. Sequels Bad Boys II and Bad Boys For Life followed in 2003 and 2020 respectively.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is returning for the fourth film, as are Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press
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