The latest Bad Boys update came during an Ebony interview where Lawrence shared a bit of information about the future of Bad Boys. According to the African-American-focused magazine, “Lawrence dismisses speculation that the franchise’s fourth installment would be canceled as a result of Smith’s shocking slap of Chris Rock at the Oscars.” This is in line with what Sony Chairman, Tom Rothman, said in May when he confirmed that Bad Boys 4 is still happening. Will Smith recently made headlines after slapping Chris Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Smith, at the Oscars. Since then, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star has had several films canceled, including a sequel to Netflix’s Bright. The Oscars Board of Governors also banned Will Smith indefinitely with industry insiders suggesting that it will be a while before studios are confident enough to restart production on some of Smith’s upcoming projects like the Deadshot solo project and the I Am Legend sequel, among others. Ultimately, Lawrence’s confidence in Bad Boys 4 is welcome news for fans. Bad Boys for Life was a critical and commercial hit. The threequel ended up making $426.5 million worldwide. It also set a new record as the highest-grossing film of the franchise. This is no easy feat as Bad Boys 3 premiered in 2020. This was when the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to cause chaos and panic all across the globe. Hopefully, it doesn’t take Sony 17 years to get the fourth Bad Boys film off the ground. Speaking of Sony sequels, the tech and entertainment industry giant is working on follow-ups to some of its more successful outings. Sony has confirmed sequels to Uncharted and Ghostbusters: Afterlife as well as Venom 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Sony is also working on more films for the budding Spider-Man Universe such as Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and El Muerto.
