A little over three years ago, Martin Lawrence made an announcement on Conan that shook the movie world to its core: Bad Boys 3 was locked, loaded, and go for action. In the span of time between that announcement and today, a lot of things have happened with the project, most important of which was the hiring and then departure of the project's previous director, Joe Carnahan. So after all of the release date postponements and changes to the project, does it still look like Bad Boys For Life will be happening? Martin Lawrence is of a certain mind, and he revealed his thoughts as follows:
I don't think we're going to get one, not the way everything's turning out. Will [Smith] is off doing another movie, and I don't think it's going to happen.
Obviously, this is a pretty big 180 after Lawrence talked up the project in the beginning of Bad Boys For Life's initial phases of development. But with the film already bumping past two release dates, one from this past February and one that was set for next January, the project has undoubtedly lost the faith of those who awaited it the most eagerly. But, as Martin Lawrence mentioned, the greatest reason this latest sequel to the Michael Bay spawned franchise happens to be the busy case load of his partner in crime, Will Smith.
The most immediate project on Will Smith's schedule is, of course, the live-action adaptation of Disney's Aladdin, though projects like Suicide Squad 2 also don't help free up his schedule, as that film is in the works and waiting to be put into action. So with Will Smith's acting career in full effect, it's hard to think that he'll be available any time soon, which obviously means that the currently director-less Bad Boys For Life is in an even more precarious situation than it's ever been in.
Still, as grim as Martin Lawrence is about the film actually becoming a real prospect, there's a way that Bad Boys For Life could find itself resurrected. Specifically, Lawrence could come back to reprise his role of Detective Marcus Burnet, and either find himself paired with a new partner, or training a new pair of cops to work as the "Bad Boys" of tomorrow. Neither option may be preferable to fans of the franchise, but both seem like better prospects than waiting for Will Smith to find time in his schedule for this long awaited sequel. Ultimately though, Martin Lawrence is game for another Bad Boys movie, but even he knows where that decision lies, as he told EW the following:
I'm there, I'm ready right now. If they wanted to do it, I'm ready, but I don't have control of that. That's the studio's decision.
Currently, Martin Lawrence has no active projects on his roster, while Will Smith has Bright dropping on Netflix this December, as well as the productions of Aladdin and presumably Suicide Squad 2 in his near future. If any new updates on the condition of Bad Boys For Life are to be had, we'll report back as soon as they're in circulation.
