Will Smith and Martin Lawrence confirm fourth ‘Bad Boys’ film is a go

Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they make another “Bad Boys” film? Get ready to shake ya tailfeather and drive over to Martin Lawrence’s house to announce the big news.

Stars Lawrence and Will Smith, jubilantly resuming his career resuscitation after last year’s life-altering Oscars slap, confirmed Tuesday that they would star in a fourth installment of the action-movie franchise, calling back to the signature music as well as the nomenclature missteps they made along the way.

“IT’S ABOUT THAT TIME,” Smith said, sharing a video of him stopping by Lawrence’s place to make the joint announcement. “It’s official, ‘Bad Boys 4,’ baby.”

The “Fresh Prince” and “Martin” stars quipped that they hoped to name the new entry “Bad Boys 4 Life” but, alas, the studio used the title “Bad Boys for Life” for the third installment, which dominated the box office in January 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the entertainment industry.

According to a Tuesday statement from Sony Pictures, the fourth film is in early pre-production at Sony Pictures with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to direct from a script by Chris Bremner. The “Ms. Marvel” and ill-fated “Batgirl” filmmakers directed “Bad Boys for Life,” which brought Miami detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) and retired detective Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) back to the big screen 25 years after the first “Bad Boys” film.

The 1995 debut made $65.8 million at the worldwide box office and was swiftly out-earned by its follow-ups: 2003’s “Bad Boys II” and “Bad Boys for Life” respectively earned $273.3 million and $426.5 million globally.

The newest sequel is again being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Smith for Westbrook, and Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman. Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone are executive producers.