Miami Herald

‘It’s about that time!’ Watch Will Smith surprise his ‘Bad Boys’ costar with big news

- BY MADELEINE MARR mmarr@miamiheral­d.com Madeleine Marr: madeleinem­arr

It’s legit official, y’all.

Your favorite buddy cops from the 305 are hitting the big screen yet again, almost 30 years after the first one came out in 1995 (Michael Bay’s directoria­l debut).

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are teaming up for “Bad Boys IV.” That would be number four for those keeping track at home who failed at Roman numerals.

The reason is all about the Benjamins. The last flick, 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life,” filmed all over South Florida in 2019, raked in just around $840 million at the global box office.

The Hollywood vets, who are also chums off screen, both shared the same video with the announceme­nt on Tuesday.

In a hilarious social media clip, Smith gets into this car with a video camera that accidental­ly, um, hits him in the face, and heads over to Lawrence’s place. The comic opens the door and the two embrace.

“It’s about that time!” Lawrence yells.

“Bad boys for life, baby!” Smith responds just as enthusiast­ically.

Smith and Lawrence then both start joshing about the fact that the word “4” in the previous “For Life” title was wasted, but no matter. We don’t know the name of the future “BB” yet, but we’re sure they’ll come up with something good.

We also don’t know the location where it will be filmed, but have a sneaking suspicion it will be right here in the Magic City. So look out for the guys shutting down a major bridge near you.

Frankly, we can’t imagine Mike Lowery or his partner Marcus Burnett anywhere else.

It’s a relief for fans of the franchise that this movie is finally taking off. After Smith slapped host Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022 because of a joke about Jada Pinkett, this film, as well as other Smith projects, were put on hold.

In the year plus since the unfortunat­e incident, the “King Richard” star resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (though still kept his golden statue), and has laid relatively low.

On Sony Pictures’ post confirming the news by resharing the men’s video, many fans seemed pumped, e.g., “This made my day.”

“Cannot wait for Bad Boys 4, loved the first 3 and I expect the 4th to be even better,” seconded another future viewer. “And so good to see Will Smith back at his positive happy self.”

Others thought the Fresh Prince rapper should still be in timeout.

“Idk why he think he’s back…?” opined a Smith critic. “I think he still needs to sit down longer.”

One classic-movie lover was hoping this one was more like the first one.

“This better have Gabrielle Union back in it! I need regular cast members back !!!! ”

Your move, Gabby.

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