‘Fast and Loose’: Michael Bay to No Longer Direct Will Smith Starrer!!

Will Smith’s upcoming Bad Boys reunion has officially gone sour. After it was previously reported that Smith and original Bad Boys director Michael Bay were reuniting for Fast and Loose, an upcoming action thriller, news broke from Deadline today that Michael Bay has left the project. This is due to creative differences, but Smith is still attached to star in the film, which is now seeking another director. Fast and Loose stars Smith as a man who wakes up with no memories, only to discover he’s been living two lives, one as a drug kingpin and another as an undercover government agent. Jon and Erich Hoeber are still attached to write the script for the film, along with Chris Bremner and Eric Pearson. The film aims to begin filming in October.

Deadline reports that Netflix wants Fast and Loose to be a healthy blend of action and comedy. Bay wanted to focus more on the action, while Smith wants to lean more into the comedy. Netflix has seemingly planted its flag on Smith’s side of the aisle, which makes sense — it’s easier to find another director for an action comedy movie than it is to find another Will Smith, who recently earned his first Oscar for his performance in King Richard. Smith is also coming off a pair of solid financial hits with his last two Bad Boys movies, which saw Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah take over directorial duties from Bay, who helmed the first two installments of Smith and Martin Lawrence’s buddy cop action comedy series. Additional casting for Fast and Loose is being kept under wraps for now.

Has Will Smith Ever Been in a Western?

It’s been over 25 years since Will Smith teamed up with Kenneth Branagh for Wild Wild West, the 1999 Western that’s gained popularity lately. The film was directed by Barry Sonnenfield with a script from Jim and John Thomas, S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price, and Peter S. Seaman. It grossed only $222 million against a whopping $170 million budget — this amounts to over $300 million when factoring in inflation, which would make it one of the most expensive movies ever made. The film earned abysmal scores of 16% from critics and 27% from audiences on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.