In the aftermath of strikes which crippled the entertainment industry for many months last year, Hollywood slowly began to recover from the effects of the action, as production began to resume for television and film. One of the film projects affected, and which has since resumed production, is the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence movie, Bad Boys 4. The fourth installment in the action comedy franchise, Sony‘s latest Bad Boys sequel, had a theatrical release date set for June 14, 2024. However, in what would be termed good news for those who can’t wait to see Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) return to fighting crime, Bad Boys 4 has now received a new release date of June 7, 2024.
When the sequel arrives in early June, the presently-untitled movie will screen in IMAX and Premium Large Formats. Sony‘s decision to switch its coming sequel’s release date pitches the Smith and Lawrence-led action comedy against The Crow and The Watcher which are both set to premiere on June 7, 2024. Filmmaker Rupert Sanders‘ reboot of The Crow which stars Bill Skarsgård in the lead role, will be taking the place of John Wick spin-off, Ballerina, which was moved back a year by Lionsgate, from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025.
The Bad Boys franchise kicked off in 1995, and it has, in its three previous installments, proved to be a commercial hit for Sony. The studio’s third film in the franchise came in 2020 with Bad Boys For Life, which, despite delays on its way to release, eventually grossed $426 million at the box office. The film beat the earnings of its predecessors while bringing the franchise’s total to $840 million worldwide. There were suggestions that a fourth film would not materialize in the weeks and months following the Smith-Chris Rock incident at the Oscars. Despite the press, the sequel remained in the pipeline.
A Funky Feel for the Coming Sequel
Smith and Lawrence aren’t the only ones to return for Bad Boys 4, the action series’ directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are equally poised for a return following their work on Bad Boys For Life. While promoting their film, Rebel, last year, the directors revealed that perhaps the 2020 sequel might have been misjudged in its title – it sounded definitive. Speaking to Collider’s Christina Radish, the pair revealed that they would be taking Bad Boys 4 in a “funky” direction.
“With Jerry Bruckheimer [high-profile producer] movies, we always tend to think about all the action and the crazy explosions. But actually, it’s the characters of his movies that are the reason why the audience loves to watch them. So, we went further and deeper on those character moments. But everything that we learned, in terms of camera movements and just directing on set, we tried to push ourselves and go even further. Sometimes we had some funky moments and funky shots that we didn’t try on the last one because it was maybe a little more classical. This time, we go more funky and more loco on this one.”
Bad Boys 4 will premiere on June 7, 2024.
via Collider