Bad Boys 3 aka Bad Boys For Life (what else would the title be?) began shooting yesterday. Here are new shots of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence on set in Atlanta today. Bad Boys, the original, came out in 1995. This was Michael Bay’s first feature film, made for under $20 million, and a success at the box office, despite medium to not-so-good reviews. As much as the critics didn’t care for it though, Bad Boys 2, released eight years later, with a much bigger budget, was trash. It was offensive THEN. Imagine it now through a 2018 lens?
By the time Bad Boys For Life comes out, exactly a year from now, it’ll be 16 years. Are you curious? Or are you scared? I think I would more scared than curious if Michael Bay were directing – but it’s not Michael Bay. The directors are Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah. So I’m definitely curious. In 2015 they received TIFF’s Discovery Programme Filmmakers Award for their feature Black, a modern Romeo & Juliet. Here’s the trailer for Black and you’ll get a sense of their aesthetic and how that might translate to Bad Boys:
These are two young, vibrant new directors in the industry. Last year they made Variety’s list of 10 Directors to Watch and here’s how they described themselves:
“Adil and Bilall: in-your-face, entertaining, next-level sh-t. Hopefully, that will be the brand. Plus, we’re two Moroccan Muslims who aren’t about terrorism, so it’s awesome.”
That feels like it might, potentially, be on brand with Bad Boys, updated for 2020, right? Interestingly enough, in that same interview with Variety, Adil and Bilall also said that, “We’d love to do Bad Boys 3. That’s right up our alley.”
Look what’s happened in 12 months time. They’re working with Will and Martin. And if you missed it, here’s Will camera testing the other day:
How does he look exactly the f-cking same!? This just means that in Bad Boys For Life, they’re going to throw it back to this, right?
All I need to know though is whether or not Gabrielle Union will be back. Vanessa Hudgens has been cast but there’s been no word on Gabrielle. Gab? Are you in?
