Bad Boys actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have confirmed that the fourth film in the franchise is in pre-production. The actors each shared the news in a reel on their Instagram pages. Lawrence and Smith were excited to share this piece of information with fans of the franchise.

In addition, Sony Pictures also confirmed that the currently untitled sequel is in early pre-production at the studio. The status of the fourth movie being made had been shaky with rumors of the movie being put on hold due to the infamous Oscar incident with Chris Rock and Smith. However, Sony boss Tom Rothman disputed the claim, saying that the movie was in development. With this recent confirmation, fans can finally be at ease to expect their favorite detectives back on the job.

Sony also revealed that Adil El Arbi and Billall Fallah are returning to direct the fourth installment of the hit franchise, and the script for the sequel is written by Chris Bremner. Jerry Bruckheimer, Doug Belgrad, Chad Oman, and Smith for Westbrook will be back as producers, with Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman, and Jon Mone serving as executive producers.

The third film Bad Boys for Life was also directed by Fallah and El Arbi, who also directed and co-wrote the feature film, Rebel. The duo also serves as executive producers on the critically acclaimed Marvel series, Ms. Marvel—they directed the pilot and the finale of the series. Fallah and El Arbi are represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, Ken Lambrechts Artist Management, and Jackoway Austen. Smith and Waldman are also repped by CAA while Lawrence is repped by UTA.

After the success of the third film, Bad Boys for Life, it is no surprise that Sony is willing to follow up with a sequel for the Bad Boys franchise, following Maimi Police detectives Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Smith) as they burst criminals and solve crimes. Bad Boys for Life, which focused on Maimi’s favorite detectives 25 years after the events of the first and second movies, was the most profitable in the franchise, making a total of $436 million worldwide.

It will be interesting to see what the writers plan to do with the untitled film after the ending of the third film, with Lowrey discovering that Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio) is his son. Will the fourth film focus on Lowrey figuring out how to be a father after so many years of not knowing?

Checkout Lawrence and Smith‘s video announcement down below:

via Collider