Will Smith’s ‘Bad Boys for Life’ Back on for January 2020 Release

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are set to reprise their roles for a third installment of the Bad Boys franchise, coming to theaters January of 2020.

A new Bad Boys movie has been the subject of Hollywood whispers and rumors for more than three years. Just nine months ago, it was removed from the release slate once again.

Now, fans finally feel its officially back, as Sony Pictures has announced that Bad Boys for Life will hit theaters on Jan. 17, 2020, according to a report by The Wrap. The studio hopes that the “threequel” will dominate the theaters on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

The movie has been through a lot in its years of development. Originally, it was announced as simply Bad Boys III back in 2015. At the time, director Joe Carnahan was linked to the project, which was expected in theaters in February of 2017. However, it was repeatedly pushed back, and Carnahan officially left the project in March of 2017, after innumerable scheduling conflicts.

As previously reported, the newly revived movie will now be directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The directing team are both Moroccan-born Belgians, with a history of gritty, urban-themed action hits.

Arbi and Fallah have worked together on three movies. They’re best known for Broeders (2011), Black (2015) and Gangsta (2018). The team are a up-and-coming commodity in Hollywood right now. This would be their first major work in the U.S.

In addition, both Smith and Lawrence have been confirmed for the project, according to The Wrap. They will reprise their nearly two and a half decade old roles of Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, the Miami detectives that launched them to stardom in 1995.

When Bad Boys came out, Smith was well-established as both a family-friendly hip-hop artists and a sitcom star, but this was one of the world’s first looks as his ability for big screen action. The movie incorporated a lot of comedy, which helped ease audiences into the idea of seeing the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a detective, but Hollywood soon realized he was capable of a lot more.

Lawrence, for his part, was dragged onto the A-list when he appeared as Smith’s partner. He had been in several movies at that point, and his show, Martin, was at its height, but his banter with Smith between action sequences made him a household name.

The movie was reportedly written by Chris Bremner, and Jerry Bruckheimer is attached as a producer.