Bad Boys 4 moves release date up to go toe-to-toe with The Crow reboot

Sony is seemingly asking Lionsgate, “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do now that Bad Boys 4 is coming for you?” It was recently reported that the John Wick spin-off, Ballerina, starring Ana De Armas, will be undergoing extensive reshoots, which will push the release date back from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025. According to John Wick star Ian McShane, “They’re new-shooting for Ballerina. You know, it’s like, they’ve gotta protect the franchise. […] And they wanna make it better cause they have to protect [the franchise].” However, Lionsgate, in need of a summer release, would move The Crow reboot, which comes from filmmaker Rupert Sanders and stars Bill Skarsgård, into Ballerina‘s original release date.

Deadline now reports that Sony is gunning for the same release date for their Will Smith and Martin Lawrence buddy-cop action-comedy sequel. Bad Boys 4 was originally slated for a premiere on June 14, but after the news of The Crow being moved up, they decided to release the film a week earlier on June 7 to go toe-to-toe with Lionsgate. Bad Boys 4, which is still the working title, is a higher-budgeted, higher-profile summer release that will be getting IMAX and other premium screen showings. It follows two Michael Bay-directed entries and a recent third film that drove its worldwide box office total to $841 million at the global box office. The action sequel is assumed to be big enough to win out its weekend release, so moving up to become a direct competitor to a movie like The Crow is a curious move.

Bad Boys for Life filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have returned to helm the film after their Batgirl debacle. This latest installment in the series comes from a screenplay by Chris Bremner. The producers on Bad Boys 4 include Jerry Bruckheimer, Smith and Doug Belgrad. Executive producers on board for this entry are Lawrence, James Lassiter, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone.

The plot for Bad Boys 4 has not yet been officially revealed. However, it would most likely see Mike and Marcus working on a new case with AMMO with a side-plot of Mike mending/working on his relationship with his son. Fans will remember that the last movie ended with Mike and Marcus being put in charge of AMMO with Mike visiting his son, Armando, in prison and offering him a chance at redemption, so this plot would follow up on those loose ends. Again, this is all speculation, but it would be odd for the previous movie to give such heavy leads and them completely dismiss them.