Bad Boys for Life, the on-again, off again follow-up to 2003’s blockbuster action flick
Bad Boys 2 is finally happening. For real this time.
It's been a long and bumpy road for the third installment in Sony's buddy cop action franchise to get to this point, and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence shared their excitement on social media.
Lawrence was the first to post about the news, sharing a photo of himself and Smith alongside a caption that reads:
"It’s official. Bad Boys for Life. #teammartymar #badboysforlife@willsmith #weback."
That photo was followed by a video posted to Will Smith's Instagram account today. The dynamic duo appears to be on a beach, which makes sense considering the franchise is set in Miami and follows the adventures of narcotics detectives, Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith).
"It’s been a LOOOONG time Coming. But now it’s Here! @BadBoys For Life 🚨 We back!! @martinlawrence," Smith said.
Just last year, Lawrence was unsure that the project would come to light, admitting,
“I don’t think we’re going to get one, not the way everything’s turning out." The actor acknowledged he was ready to do it but cited Will Smith's busy schedule and stated that it was ultimately up to the studio to greenlight it.
In May of this year, Sony gave
Bad Boys for Life a new release date of January 17, 2020, so we'll see if that sticks. Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah are on board to direct the film, taking over for Michael Bay, who helmed the first two films in the franchise but left at some point in the development cycle of
Bad Boys for Life.