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The long-gestating film is in preproduction at Sony Pictures, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct.
By Etan Vlessing
Canada Bureau Chief
It’s official: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are reuniting for a fourth film in the Bad Boys franchise.
Sony Pictures confirmed the untitled Bad Boys sequel is in early preproduction at the studio, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct from a script by Chris Bremner.
The fourth film in the buddy cop movie series that began in 1995 has been long in the making, but the official confirmation arrived from Smith and Lawrence on social media Tuesday. The pair reteaming on the new film follows Oscar winner Smith slapping Chris Rock during the March 2022 Oscars ceremony and the controversy that ensued.
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Jerry Bruckheimer, Smith for Westbrook, Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman will share producing credits on Bad Boys 4, with Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone on board as executive producers.
The latest Bad Boys sequel had several fits and stops in recent years, with different writers and directors coming and going. El Arbi and Fallah most recently directed and co-wrote the feature film Rebel, a portrayal of a family torn apart over a little Muslim boy’s future, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The filmmakers previously directed Bad Boys for Life for Sony Pictures, which reunited Smith and Lawrence 25 years after the first iconic Bad Boys film was released. They directed Batgirl, which Warner Bros. Discovery famously shelved last year in order to take a tax write-down on the project. In TV, the duo executive produced and directed the pilot and finale of the Marvel series Ms. Marvel.
El Arbi and Fallah are represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, Ken Lambrechts Artist Management and Jackoway Austen. Smith is repped by CAA. Lawrence is repped by UTA. Barry Waldman is repped by CAA.
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