Bad Boys For Life: Everything We Know About The Action Sequel
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The 1995 action hit Bad Boys was an important movie for several people involved. It was the directorial debut of Michael Bay, who would go on to become one of the most successful directors of the following two decades, with films such as Armageddon, The Rock, Pearl Harbor, and no fewer than five Transformers movies. It was also the film that made Will Smith a movie star.
While Smith was known for both his music and TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air prior to Bad Boys, he was yet to break into movies. In fact, co-star Martin Lawrence was arguably a bigger name at the time, with his sitcom Martin a huge ratings smash for Fox. But while Lawrence continued to make popular movies in the following years, Bad Boys helped catapult Smith into the top tier of Hollywood stars. The pair played rule-breaking Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, and the mix of wild, kinetic action and wisecracking foul-mouthed humor helped helping it make the movie a box office smash.
By the time Bad Boys II rolled round in 2003, the high profiles of Smith, Lawrence, and Bay ensured a bigger budget and an even more spectacular film. It's one of the wildest action movies of the decade, and while some critics objected to the levels of violence and general bad behavior, audiences loved it. The film made $273 million worldwide, and many expected a third movie would follow.
Except it didn't. Both stars and the director moved onto other projects, and nothing more was heard about the series until 2014, when Lawrence revealed that producer Jerry Bruckheimer was developing a script for Bad Boys 3. A year later, the film appeared on Sony's release schedule with a 2017 release date, and shortly after, The A-Team's Joe Carnahan was hired to direct. But still the movie stalled; Carnahan left the project in March 2017, and a series of delays led Lawrence to state that he didn't think it would happen after all.
But thankfully, it has. In May 2018, the film--titled Bad Boys For Life--was given a new release date of January 2020, and this was followed by the first video of Smith and Lawrence, finally reunited on set. So with the movie now only two months from release, here's everything we know so far about Bad Boys For Life...
What's the release date?
Bad Boys For Life hits theaters on January 17, 2020.
Who's coming back?
The movie sees the return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their roles as maverick Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. They're not the only cast members returning from the previous movies either--Joe Pantoliano will back as their boss, Captain Conrad Howard, while Theresa Randle reprises her role as Marcus's long-suffering wife Theresa
Who's new?
There's plenty of new faces in this latest entry into the Bad Boys series. Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), Paola Núñez (The Purge TV show), and Charles Melton (Riverdale) all play part of the new police unit known as AMMO, with whom Mike and Marcus are reluctantly teamed. Former British kids TV presenter Jacob Scipio plays the ruthless drug cartel boss Armando Armas, and there's also a role for DJ Khaled as a character called Manny the Butcher.
Who's the director?
Michael Bay has not returned to direct Bad Boys For Life. Instead the movie is helmed by Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who were hired after original director Joe Canahan left the project. El Arbi and Fallah previously made the acclaimed 2015 crime drama Black, and have also been hired for Beverly Hill Cop 4, which will reportedly start shooting once Eddie Murphy completes Coming to America 2.
What's the story?
We know a bit about the plot for Bad For For Life. Marcus has retired from the Miami police and leading a quieter life, but is pulled back in to help Mike when his life is threatened by a ruthless drug baron Armando Armas. The pair are teamed with newly created elite team of younger cops, known as AMMO, but there's also an extra complication in that Rite, the head of AMMO, is an old girlfriend of Mike's.
Will there be a Bad Boys 4?
A fourth Bad Boys movie was originally announced in 2015, at the same time as Bad Boys For Life, with a release date set for July 2019. However, following the various delays to the third movie, it was removed from schedules. But of course, if Bad Boys For Life is a big hit, don't be surprised to see it get a new release date.