Nearly twenty years after the release of Bad Boys II, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprised their roles of Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in Bad Boys for Life. The film was a big success, and the studio quickly got the ball rolling on a sequel. Bad Boys 4 actually started shooting this spring with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct. Although the production had to pause due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the directors spoke on The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast to tease what to expect from Bad Boys 4.
Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah didn’t say much, but they did say that Bad Boys 4 will have a lighter tone than its predecessor. “I think that there’s going to be way more comedy,” El Arbi said. “The third one had the dramatic tone. With this one, it’s really our purpose to get people laughing and having a good time in the theater. Martin [Lawrence] is going to a higher level in this one. This is the culmination of the Marcus Burnett arc.“
He also touched upon the possible title of the new movie. “Well, you know, the title that we like – I don’t know that they’re going to go for it yet – would be like ‘Bad Boys Ride or Die’ because ‘Bad Boys 4 Life’ is already taken,” El Arbi said. “We didn’t know there was going to be a fourth one, you know?” Although I normally can’t stand when movies use numbers in the title (I’m looking at you Scre4m), Bad Boys 4 Life would have worked.
In addition to Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, Bad Boys 4 will feature the return of a number of actors from previous movies, including Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, and Paola Núñez. New additions to the cast include Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, and Rhea Seehorn. Tasha Smith is also onboard to play Marcus Burnett’s wife, replacing Theresa Randle, who played the character in the first three movies in the franchise.
Bad Boys 4 is slated to hit theaters on July 14, 2024.
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