Nearly 25 years after the first Bad Boys paired Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami narcotics detectives who can’t seem to avoid hot cars and big explosions, Bad Boys For Life will bring them back to the screen. Sony Pictures released the first trailer for the film, and the sneak peek makes it clear that they’ll be in familiar territory for their next adventure.
Co-directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Bad Boys For Life brings back Lawrence and Smith as Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey, respectively, and pits them against a new threat in the Florida city — one that apparently involves lots of guns and yes, more explosions. They’re joined in the cast by Vanessa Hudgens, Charles Melton, and Alexander Ludwig, who portray members of a specialized police unit that clashes with the detective duo. Joe Pantoliano portrays the duo’s police supervisor, Capt. Conrad Howard, in the film.
The first Bad Boys hit theaters in 1995, and earned $141.1 million worldwide. It also made Smith a bona fide action hero, giving him his first featured role in an action movie and propelling him into a series of big-budget features, with co-starring roles in summer tentpole features Independence Day and Men in Black following his Bad Boys debut. A sequel to the film, Bad Boys II, was released in 2003 with a considerably higher budget — thanks to the higher profiles of both Lawrence and Smith — but the film still managed to earn an impressive $273.3 million worldwide. Both of the first two films in the franchise were directed by Michael Bay.
Bad Boys for Life has been talked about for almost a decade now, with development rumors circulating in 2015 that involved several noteworthy filmmakers and cast members joining and exiting the project. The film was officially confirmed in October 2018, and filming took place over several months earlier this year in Atlanta and Miami. The final script for the film was penned by Chris Bremmer, and is based on earlier drafts written by Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan.
Bad Boys For Life is currently scheduled to hit theaters January 17, 2020.
