Bad Boys 3 Loses Release Date, But Will Smith Is Still “Interested”

A third Bad Boys movie, titled Bad Boys For Life, has been in the works at Sony for some time, but it doesn't seem to be getting any closer to the screen. In March, it lost director Joe Carnahan, and has now been removed entirely from the studio's release slate.

As reported by Deadline, the movie was originally set for a November 2018 release. However, even though it no longer appear's on Sony's schedule, the site notes that the movie has not been cancelled and that "the script is still being worked on". In addition, star Will Smith is still "interested" in the project.

Both Bad Boys For Life and Bad Boys 4 were announced in August 2015. At the time the former was given a February 2017 release, which subsequently moved back to early 2018, and then to the November date. Bad Boys 4 was dropped from the schedule in February.

The A-Team director Joe Carnahan was originally hired to direct, but he withdrew in March, citing "scheduling issues." At the time it was reported that Sony was actively looking for a new director, with three names under consideration.

It was Smith himself who first revealed that a third movie was in the works. Last year he spoke about meeting co-star Martin Lawrence for the first time in several years. "We just looked at each other," he said. "We hugged. In that moment, we knew we were making another Bad Boys. We're definitely doing another one."

The first Bad Boys was released in 1995, with the sequel following in 2003. Both movies were directed by Transformers' Michael Bay.