Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have reportedly been tapped to direct Bad Boys For Life.
The third installment of the popular Will Smith and Martin Lawrence movie franchise has suffered numerous setbacks over the past few years, including Sony Pictures playing around with the release date and director Joe Carnahan quitting the project in March 2017.
But it now seems that fans may finally get a third film, as according to Deadline, bosses at Sony Pictures are in negotiations with Adil and Bilall, helmers of 2015 film Black, to lead the project, and mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is still on board to produce. Should a deal be reached, initial production will finally begin in August (18).
It’s been nearly 15 years since Bad Boys II, which reunited Will and Martin’s detective characters Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, hit cinemas.
In June, original director Michael Bay, who helmed the first two films, suggested studio bosses get a move on before 49-year-old Will and 52-year-old Martin were too old to play the lead roles.
“Pretty soon they’re going to be old boys,” he said in an interview with Cinema Blend. “Pretty soon they’re going to be retired cops instead of active-duty cops. It’s taken a long time to get that thing going, and I’m not involved in getting it going. They should get it going soon, though. You could definitely get Martin and Will to be funny again – those were fun movies to do.”
The first two films grossed more than $414 million (£292 million) at the worldwide box office.
