Bad Boys 3

So, how about that Bad Boys sequel? We haven’t heard anything about Bad Boys 3, a.k.a. Bad Boys for Life, for a while, and that might be because it’s being shelved. One of the stars, Martin Lawrence, does seem to think so.

Bad Boys sequels, Bad Boys sequels — whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when your director abruptly leaves you?

If there’s one thing that Joe Carnahan excels at, it’s overshooting our expectations. I promise that isn’t just faint praise: Carnahan has rebooted The A-Team as a summer movie; shot a feature-length film where Liam Neeson punches wolves; released an ensemble action film about the mob trying to kill a magician. Each of these films could have been a disaster in the wrong hands, but Carnahan has consistently delivered fun and thoughtful action movies where audiences least expect it. For my money, that makes him one of the most underrated writer-directors working in the action genre today.

Bad Boys 3 is finally gearing up to head into production with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence returning to reprise their roles from Michael Bay’s previous films. But with filming not set to begin until early next year, the release date for the long-developing sequel has been delayed yet again, this time to 2018. On the slightly more positive side of things, the sequel has a new title, and it’s one that should earn the approval of Bad Boys fans.

The Dark Tower opening in January felt like a bad sign, given that the first month of the year is typically a dumping ground for less-promising films. Inspiring a healthy bit of optimism, Sony has pushed the release back a month to February 2017, while also shifting dates for similarly long-gestating films Bad Boys 3 and Barbie — the latter of which remains without a director, so we’ll see how long that release date sticks.

Last summer we learned that Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) was interested in directing Bad Boys 3, which Sony has scheduled for a 2017 release. He was never officially confirmed for the job, but these new pre-visualization images he shared on Twitter are all the confirmation you need that Carnahan is behind the wheel on the long-developing sequel.

Back in June we learned that Joe Carnahan (The Grey) is interested in directing Bad Boys 3, and in August it was reported that Sony had officially put the long-awaited sequel on their release calendar for 2017 (along with a spot for Bad Boys 4 in 2019). Not much else has been reported about the third installment in the franchise, but Will Smith himself has officially confirmed that we’ll be seeing Bad Boys 3 very soon.

We have been hearing rumblings that Bad Boys 3 was one the way for the better part of a decade now. Maybe director Michael Bay could squeeze it in when he was allowed out of Transformers jail. Maybe Will Smith would take a break from being the biggest movie star in the world to answer Martin Lawrence’s phone calls. Maybe, the news that Joe Carnahan was circling the latest entry in this nutty franchise would actually come to pass. After years of false starts, it looks like Sony is planning to bring this series back in a big way. They’ve not only set a release date for Bad Boys 3, they’ve set a release date for Bad Boys 4.

It’s been a little while since we’ve heard anything about Bad Boys 3, the long-developing new installment in the Michael Bay franchise that would — hopefully — reunite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for another action-packed and hilarious outing. It looks like Sony really wants to get Bad Boys 3 up and running again, and they’ve attracted a director who might be able to pull it off.

Rumors of 'Bad Boys 3' have swirled for years -- the last we heard, it was looking for a writer, though there was no word if stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, and director Michael Bay would come back for another outing -- but it finally looks like things might be moving in the right direction. At least, if you think that Lawrence returning for more action is the right direction. (Hint: it is).