Bad Boys 4 has been confirmed by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in an announcement video on Smith’s Instagram. Legacy sequel Bad Boys 3 was released in January 2020, and became an unexpectedly successful action movie. Bad Boys For Life (as the third movie was called) was the last big release of the pre-pandemic era, making $425 million.
Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are returning for the fourth installment. They were the directors of the Batgirl movie, which caused a huge stir when it was scrapped by Warner Bros after filming was completed.
In the announcement video, Smith yells; “bad boys for life baby!” realising that the third film effectively wasted the pun they could’ve used for the upcoming comedy movie. “We shouldn’t have called it that though,” he jokes. It has been almost 12 months since Will Smith’s Oscar slap controversy, which led some people to question whether it would affect his upcoming projects. This will probably be the first high-profile test of his popularity since then.
Bad Boys began life as a hit action-comedy in 1995, and Bad Boys II followed in 2003 – both were directed by action maestro Michael Bay. Smith would go on to appear in science fiction movies such as I, Robot and I Am Legend, the cool neo-noir Focus, and played the genie in Disney’s live-action Aladdin – which broke the billion barrier at the box office. He won the Oscar for Best Actor at the 2022 ceremony – shortly after slapping Chris Rock onstage for insulting Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
In the gap between Bad Boys 2 and 3, Martin Lawrence starred in ensemble comedies Wild Hogs and College Road Trip, voiced a character in animated movie Open Season, and continued the Big Momma’s House franchise.
While we wait to hear more about Bad Boys 4, check out our guide to the best thriller movies.