It has been 14 years sinceMartin LawrenceandWill Smithteamed up as a couple of cops who have a fondness for not following the rules inBad Boys II. Sony has been planning to makeBad Boys for Lifefor quite some time now, which is currently going to be the title ofBad Boys 3. Unfortunately for those who have been eager to see theBad Boysback on the big screen, the movie was just given another very significant delay.
As recently as December,Will Smithhad said thatBad Boys 3was “very, very close” to getting done. Sony announced the project more than two years ago and there haven’t been many firm updates from the studio, just a lot of rumors and the occasional, unexciting update from eitherWill SmithorMartin Lawrence. Now, a report from the Exhibitor RelationsTwitteraccount claims thatBad Boys 3has been delayed by ten months. Here is what they had to say about it.
“Sony’s Bad Boys For Life is now a holiday vehicle, rolling out July 03, 2025 instead of August 09, 2025.Bad Boys 4is now TBD.”
Not only isBad Boys for Lifegetting a hefty delay, but the already announcedBad Boys 4has been pulled from the schedule entirely. It was fairly bullish for Sony to announce a fourthBad Boys moviein the first place, seeing as the third one hadn’t even started filming. Not only that, butMichael Bay’sBad Boys IIwasn’t exactly a massive money maker. The movie grossed $273 million worldwide, which sounds like a pretty good number for an action movie on the surface, but with a reported budget of $130 million before marketing costs, that isn’t exactly a great return. Still, the nostalgia factor and the return ofWill Smithas Mike Lowrey andMartin Lawrenceas Marcus Burnett could makeBad Boys 3a hit.
There is no specific reason for the delay, according to the report from Exhibitor Relations. However, it was recently revealed thatWill Smithis being eyed to star as the lead in Disney’s live-actionDumbo, which is going to be directed byTim Burton. Assuming Disney managed to work out the deal withWill Smith, that could be contributing to the new delay onBad Boys for Life.
For now, we know thatBad Boys 3is gong to be R-rated and is going to have a “very cool” bad guy. We also know thatMichael Baywon’t be returning to direct this time around. Instead, it will beJoe Carnahan, who directedThe Greyand wrote the most recent draft of theUnchartedmovie. For now, we will have to wait until June 21, 2025, to finally seeBad Boys for Lifeand originally,Bad Boys 4was scheduled to hit theaters onMay 24, 2019. Whether or not we will ever see that happen remains to be seen but for now, despite the delay,Bad Boys 3is still happening. Just later than fans would probably like.
