Last week, Sony Pictures went ahead and announced release dates for both Bad Boys 3 and Bad Boys 4, with the former arriving on February 17th, 2017 and the latter touching down on July 3rd, 2019. We know that Joe Carnahan is in line to direct the third film, and the studio is currently mulling over options for the fourth. What we don’t know, however, is whether or not Martin Lawrence and Will Smith will return to star.
Of course, it’s assumed that both actors will reprise their roles, but now we’re hearing that that may not be the case. THR reports that while Will Smith will certainly produce both sequels, he’s not locked in to star yet. Now, this doesn’t mean that he won’t get in front of the camera. It just means that it’s not a sure thing.
That being said, it would be pretty hard to make a Bad Boys film without Smith, so I’m assuming that he’ll at least have a small role here, if not a starring one. If anything, I can see them making Bad Boys 3 a “passing of the baton” type story with two younger cops taking over for Smith and Lawrence in the fourth outing. At least, that would make the most sense.
Regardless, as long as these sequels deliver that same over the top mayhem and action that Bad Boys II featured, I’ll definitely be lining up for it.