Although both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have claimed they are close to beginning production on “Bad Boys 3,” the latter now thinks the film won’t happen after all.
“I don’t think we’re going to get one, not the way everything’s turning out,” Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly. “Will is off doing another movie, and I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Last year, Smith teased a third film in the “Bad Boys” franchise, telling TheWrap it was “very close” to happing. He said that he and Lawrence make “one a decade.” In 2014, Lawrence also told Conan O’Brien that a third “Bad Boys” is on its way.
In February, Sony shuffled the release of “Bad Boys 3,” which was titled “Bad Boys for Life,” now scheduled to be released on Nov. 9, 2018. However, in August, the film was removed from the schedule entirely. A fourth “Bad Boys” film had also been removed from the slate, having been scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in 2019.
The film also lost its director, Joe Carnahan, in March over scheduling issues, and the studio had been searching for his replacement.
The first “Bad Boys” film was released in 1995, directed by Michael Bay. The movie was about two detectives who have to protect a murder witness while investigating a stolen case of heroin. It grossed $141 million worldwide at the box office. Its follow up was released in 2003 and again was directed by Bay. It was a box office success, grossing $270 million worldwide.
Smith is currently in pre-production on Guy Ritchie’s “Aladdin,” in which he plays Genie.
Sony declined to comment.