Just as Bad Boys for Life arrived in theaters, Sony began developing a fourth movie for the franchise.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the threequel's writer Chris Bremner will return for the upcoming film. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are expected to reprise their roles as Detective Mike Lowery and Detective Marcus Burnett, respectively. Sony reportedly plans to fast-track the sequel, so that there isn't as significant a gap as there was between Bad Boys II and For Life.

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Smith and Lawrence starred in the 1995 action-comedy and its 2003 sequel as best friends and detectives in the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. Bad Boys marked Michael Bay's feature directorial debut.

A third Bad Boys film had been in various stages of development for years stalling after Bay dropped out of the project and due to Smith's busy schedule as one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. The A-Team filmmaker Joe Carnahan had originally signed on to replace Bay before dropping out himself. The popular buddy-cop duo eventually returned to the big screen under directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from a script written by Chris Bremner, Bad Boys For Life stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Kate Del Castillo, Nicky Jam and Joe Pantoliano. The film is now in theaters.

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