After a long wait of 17 years, the third installment in the Bad Boys film series, Bad Boys For Life, is finally coming out – but why did it take so long to happen? Audiences around the world were introduced to detectives Michael Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) in 1995 in Michael Bay’s buddy cup film Bad Boys. Though it didn’t do well with critics, it was a box office success, and a sequel, appropriately titled Bad Boys II, was released in 2003.

2020 appears to be the year of long-overdue sequels, and Bad Boys For Life is the first in line. The film reunites Smith and Lawrence over a decade after their last adventure together as Lowrey and Burnett, and a lot has changed during that time. The pair has gone on their own ways, with Burnett becoming a police inspector, and Lowrey leading a “young guns” group of millennial cops while also going through a midlife crisis. After a fierce cartel mob boss looks for revenge, Lowrey and Burnett join forces for one last mission before they officially retire.

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Sounds like a fitting final chapter in the Bad Boys trilogy, especially after all the time that passed between this and the second film. So, why is Bad Boys For Life arriving over a decade after the previous film?

Why Bad Boys For Life Took So Long To Happen

A third Bad Boys film had been in development for years, and it came across with various obstacles that constantly pushed it back. Back in 2008, Michael Bay said he could come back as director for Bad Boys 3, but the biggest problem was the cost, as his and Will Smith’s salaries were too high. By 2014, David Guggenheim was brought to work on the storyline for the film, with Lawrence later stating that a script had been written and parts had been cast. The following year, Joe Carnahan was in talks to write and possibly direct. By then, Bad Boys 3 had a projected release date of February, 2017.

In August, 2016, the film was pushed back to January 2018 to avoid competition with Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, and it was officially retitled Bad Boys For Life. In early 2017, Carnahan left the project, and Sony removed the film from its release schedule. Bad Boys For Life was revived in January 2018, when Sony began negotiations with directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The project finally began production in January 2019, and got an official release date of January 2020.

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Bad Boys For Life’s many delays were a combination of scheduling conflicts, budget restrictions, and marketing moves to ensure it didn’t clash with big releases from other studios. Luckily, Sony never gave up on it, and found ways to make it happen with its original stars, even if it took a bit too long to happen. Better late than never.

Key Release Dates
  • Bad Boys for Life (2020)Release date: Jan 17, 2020
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About The Author


Adrienne Tyler
(3275 Articles Published)

Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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