Just when we were starting to think that the Bad Boys franchise had, one the big screen at least, driven off quietly into the sunset, news arrives that a new director has been found for what is still known as Bad Boys For Life. Make that two directors, as Belgian shot-callers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are making a deal with Sony to take on the task.
A third Bad Boys has been bubbling away in development for years, with Joe Carnahan the most recent director attached. But when that didn't work out, Sony looked for other names, and the Belgian duo, who won praise for star-crossed lovers-meets-crime drama Black in 2015 (the film arrived here in 2016), were approached. Assuming all comes together, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence will be back as the wild cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, whose approach to law-keeping often comes with a lot of car crashes, explosions and shoot-outs.
Jerry Bruckheimer is once more producing, and Chris Bremner wrote the latest draft of the script. The aim is to kick off shooting in August.
In related news, the Bad Boys TV spin-off starring Gabrielle Union (as Marcus' sister Syd), which recently landed a pilot order, has cast Ernie Hudson as her father Joseph. Turns out the producers knew who to call...
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