'Bad Boys 3' Reportedly Starts Filming in 2019

Miami PD’s most infamous officers are on the cusp of returning to the big screen in a third film that is reported to hit theaters by 2020.

October 1, 2018

Martin Lawrence, Will Smith — Image via Getty/Kevin Winter

Miami PD’s most infamous officers are finally on the cusp of returning to the big screen. According to new Variety article, Sony Pictures is pushing ahead withBad Boys 3.

Bad Boys for Life, as it's been called, was given a 2020 release date back in May 2018. It now looks like production will begin in 2019, and producers have reportedly signed off on a new draft of a script. Will Smith is said to be all set to reprise his role as Detective Mike Lowrey, while Martin Lawrence is still circling a deal to return as Marcus Burnett. The plan is apparently for the threequel to land by Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in January 2020, which starts Jan. 17.

Sony "declined to comment on specifics related to negotiations," but Variety had an earlier chat with Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch that yielded some intel. “If we’re going to make another Bad Boys after 15 years, it’s got to be next-level great,” Panitch said.

The third flick in the franchise will be helmed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, best known for FX’s Snowfall. “These guys are amazing,” Panitch said. “They loved the first movies, but they’re not afraid to change things up.”

Unlike other franchise reboots like Jumanji, Men in Black, and Charlie’s Angels, Bad Boys for Life aims to star its original leads. Still, the studio is working on a fresh take to breathe new life into the characters. The story for No. 3 will reportedly center on Lowery going through a midlife crisis while Burnett works as a private eye. Though the characters have apparently endured a falling out since the last time we saw them, a new common enemy inspires them to set aside their differences.

“The north star for us is wanting our movies to feel different, not done before, not recycled,” said Panitch. “Because of the volume of streaming content out there and television content, we spend a lot of time around here talking about a movie’s theatricality and making sure we believe it achieves cinema worthiness.”