‘Bad Boys For Life’ Film, Updates: Director Confirms Official Return of Will Smith, Martin Lawrence for Sequel, Explains Reasons for Delay

‘Bad Boys For Life’ director Joe Carnahan confirmed the official return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as narcotics detectives Mike and Marcus, respectively. Carnahan explained that Smith’s involvement in ‘Suicide Squad’ was one of the reasons for the sequel’s delay.

According to the Business Insider, Smith and Lawrence are officially back for the third installment of the ‘Bad Boys’ buddy-cop action-comedy cinematic series. Smith will reprise his role as Mike Lowrey and Lawrence will return as Marcus Burnett. The two actors will play best friends and detectives of the Miami Police Department’s narcotics division.

Carnahan has officially boarded the follow-up film as director. During an interview with i09’s Gizmodo, Carnahan teased that the upcoming film’s script will be the best one in the series. He said, “Unless you’re Toy Story 3, usually third ones aren’t the strongest, and I think this one will be the strongest of the trilogy thus far.”

He continued, “There’s a lot of funny sh*t in this movie… And there’s also a very mysterious, but tonally spot-on story that I think is kind of perfect for where we are in this day and age, where the guys are and reflectively, a very modern take on these guys. It’s kind of what becomes of Bad Boys when they’re not boys anymore.”

Carnahan added, “There are obviously little things you want to tip your hat too but I think the danger is becoming this slavish ‘We have to check all these boxes’… There aren’t these legions of people demanding your head because you didn’t bring back John Salley or you didn’t bring back Joe Pantoliano. I think you have to be careful with that. I’m always interested in ‘I know what has been done. What hasn’t been done?’ If not it’s just regurgitating old tropes and ideas and that’s not fun for anybody.”

The third installment was originally slated to be released on June 2017 but was moved to a later date for January 2018. Carnahan revealed that Smith’s commitments to David Ayer’s recently released ‘Suicide Squad’ attributed to the upcoming film’s delay. He concluded, “There’s only one Will Smith and one Martin Lawrence… You can’t replace those guys and I wouldn’t want to be involved if it wasn’t Will and Martin. They are that franchise.”

Will and Lawrence were first introduced into the series in Michael Bay’s 1995 film ‘Bad Boys’. The film was deemed commercially successful earning a total of $141.41 million worldwide on a production budget of $19 million, according to Box Office Mojo. It was then succeeded by a sequel ‘Bad Boys II’, which was also a financial success despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics.

‘Bad Boys for Life’, otherwise known as ‘Bad Boys 3’, is an upcoming action-comedy film directed by Joe Carnahan. It is the third installment in the buddy cop series starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the lead roles. It is produced by Columbia Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films in association with Platinum Dunes.

It is scheduled to premiere in U.S. theaters on January 12, 2018.