14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been six years since the second (and last as far as fans knew) “Bad Boys” film, but, for director Michael Bay, this long time lapse means almost nothing. A third film is currently in development, with all signs pointing that Bay will reclaim the director’s chair for it, while hopes are high that the entire cast will also be reassembled, as The Hollywood Reporter informs.
Reportedly, Michael Bay offered fans the first hint as regards a third “Bad Boys” film in this year’s blockbuster “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” by having Sam scribble the number 3 on a “Bad Boys II” poster as he was writing down symbols on the walls of his room, SlashFilm believes. With this in mind, saying that Bay is highly likely to return to the franchise that virtually put him on the map is not too far-fetched a thing to do, industry insiders state.
However, what is known so far is that a screenwriter has been approached for the third story. “Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment of the high-octane ‘Bad Boys’ franchise, tapping Peter Craig to pen the screenplay. The hope is to have a script that would reunite director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. At this point, with the project in the early stages, none has a deal to return.” THR says.
As fans must know, the first film, although not a commercial success as big as the follow-up, is considered the best of the two. It stars Lawrence and Smith as two homicide cops that end up with cases that usually involve plenty of car chases and visually arresting explosions. The film launched Smith’s career as an action-movie superstar, while also pushing Bay into the spotlight – he became known as the director with the most filmed explosions hereafter.
“Bad Boys II” represented a crushing hit at the box-office, making $138 million domestically and $273 internationally, as opposed to the $66 million nationwide and $141 million internationally of the first film. Michael Bay and Will Smith for one had already established reputations in the industry, which also made it that development costs were higher. As a matter of fact, THR says, this could be one of the biggest obstacles the third film might stumble upon, since bringing back the original crew would imply quite an impressive budget and no one can tell right now if it’d be worth it.