Will Smith didn't have to say much to make it official that Bad Boys 4 is a go. All he had to do was hit play and P. Diddy's 2003 banger Shake Ya Tailfeather would have sufficed. But, in typical Will Smith fashion, he went above and beyond.
The 54-year-old actor on Tuesday took to social media and posted a video of himself jumping in his car and teasing a big announcement. He offered a hint, and on his speakers began blaring Diddy, Nelly and Murphy Lee's hit track off the Bad Boys II soundtrack.
"I wish I was you not knowing what I'm about to show me," Smith quipped with the camera pointing at him.
Next, Smith pulled up to a house, knocked on the door and out came Martin Lawrence, who had just one question in mind: "It's about that time?"
And with that, after much anticipation and some hesitation, Smith and Lawrence made it official that Bad Boys 4 was soon coming to a screen near you.
While Smith and Lawerence referenced the upcoming film as Bad Boys 4, the film is still untitled and in pre-production at Sony Pictures, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct from a script by Chris Bremner.
Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith, Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman are back producing, and Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone will serve as executive producers.
While the plans had been in motion for some time to get the fourth installment off the ground, the project, it seemed, experienced a bit of a speed bump after Smith's now-infamous Oscars slap.
But, back in July, Lawrence put fans at ease when he told Ebony that "we got one more at least," in reference to at least one more sequel.
Lawerence's comments followed months after The Hollywood Reporter reported that Netflix quietly moved Smith's Fast and Loose project to the back burner. The outlet reported that a few other projects in preproduction were also likely headed that route. And, with respect to Bad Boys 4, THR reported that Sony had been in active development, so much so that Smith had already received 40 pages of the script prior to the Oscars, but, in wake of the controversial slap heard and seen 'round the world, the project was put on pause.
Fast forward to now, Smith hit play to resume production.
Bad Boys for Life hit theaters in 2020, grossing $426 million at the box office. The franchise as a whole, beginning with the first installment in 1995, has grossed nearly $1 billion at the box office.
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