Bad Boys 4 finally gets a release date – and it’s sooner than you think

Will Smith announced the news with an excited post on Instagram

Bad Boys 4 has officially wrapped, according to Will Smith.

The next film in the buddy cop franchise, which sees Smith teaming up once again with Martin Lawrence, was announced in January 2023.

Directed by returning filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, it will be the fourth instalment in the action franchise, following on from 2020’s Bad Boys for Life.

On Monday (4 March), Smith gave fans a release date that was earlier than many had ancticipated, given the delays that had impeded the project.

Sharing a photograph of himself and Lawrence on set, Smith wrote: “WRAPPED! Nothin’ but magic every time I’m with my guy. See y’all June 7 for Bad Boys 4!!”

The photograph sees Lawrence and Smith, both dressed in black, fist-bumping in front of a vast cityscape.

Created by George Callo, the franchise stars Lawrence, 58, and Smith, 55, as Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery – detectives in the Miami Police Department.

Not all of the original cast members, however, are reprising their roles. Theresa Randle, who has played Marcus’s wife, Theresa Burnett, in every Bad Boys film to date, will not be returning. A reason for her departure has not been given.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

Randle will be replaced by Tasha Smith, best known for her roles in TV shows such as Empire and The Corner. Smith is also a director with credits on the thriller series Mayor of Kingstown and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, Bel-Air.

Also joining the cast are Vanessa Hudgens, Paola Núnez, Alexander Ludwig, and Eric Dane.

In another photo shared to Smith’s Instagram on Monday (4 March), the actor is seen walking on set with musician Jon Batiste.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

“Jon Batiste came to see me & Martin Lawrence on our last day of shooting Bad Boys,” said Smith in the caption. “I don’t remember what I was talkin’ about but there was a whole lotta hand-talkin’ going’ on.”

Batiste, 37, appeared nightly as bandleader and musician director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2022. In 2022, he won the Grammy for Album of the Year for his sixth studio album We Are. The nature of Batiste’s involvement in Bad Boys 4 has not been revealed.

The first Bad Boys film, directed by Transformers’ Michael Bay, was released in 1995, with sequels following in 2003 and 2020, titled Bad Boys II and Bad Boys For Life respectively.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in ‘Bad Boys' (Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock)

The most recent entry in the franchise, Bad Boys for Life,  made nearly $425m (approximately £334m) at the global box office, and received mostly positive reviews.

Bad Boys 4 will be Smith’s highest-profile new project since he slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars ceremony. After the incident, rumours circulated that the project had been put on ice.

Later that year, both Lawrence and Sony Pictures chair Tom Rothman disputed rumours that the controversy surrounding Smith’s actions was what caused the film to be delayed.

Rothman told Deadline in May: “No. That was inaccurate. That movie’s been in development and still is. There weren’t any brakes to pump because the car wasn’t moving.”

Bad Boys 4 will be released on 7 June 2024.