Bad Boys: Ride Or Die

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you… for the fourth time? That was what happened with the fourth installment of this Martin Lawrence and Will Smith franchise. Bad Boys: Ride or Die hit theaters in a big way.

BAD BOYS 4 QUIETLY FILMED?

Rather quietly, it seems that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence had already filmed, or at least started filming, Bad Boys: Ride or Die in the spring of 2023. It wasn’t widely reported, but Will Smith and company got principle photography underway and the movie is on track.

It was somewhat surprising considering the timing around the Oscar’s slap and the feeling at the time that Will Smith could be persona non grata in Hollywood. But time (and PR teams) heal all proverbial wounds in that respect and it appears Bad Boys 4 is on the way.

BAD BOYS 4’S CAST

Cash grab or smart business move. Either way, Bad Boys: Ride or Die returned both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as one of our favorite cop duos. But who else was back?

Bad Boys For Life saw the introduction to a new young squad called AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations) that was led by Lowery’s ex-girlfriend.

The young crew included Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, and Charles Melton. All returned for Bad Boys: Ride or Die as both Lowery and Burnett were placed in charge of AMMO at the conclusion of the third movie.

Another character who returned for Bad Boys: Ride or Die was Paola Nunez’s Rita who was appointed to captain after longtime captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) was murdered.

THE PEOPLE MAKING BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE

The first two Martin Lawrence and Will Smith movies were directed by Michael Bay. Whether you like him or not, he has directed some major blockbusters. The first two movies were Bay classics, big set pieces, and action stunts. The third movie, while it did have its moments, it didn’t carry the Bay weight with it.

Bad Boys For Life was directed by the tandem of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and according to the team, they will return for Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Their Bad Boys story offered less bang and more heart (which eventually led to more bucks), and was in stark contrast to the Bay-directed films.

So, why didn’t Bay come back for the third movie? According to Will Smith, Bay was simply too expensive. He explained via Digital Spy that he had reached out to Bay about a number three, “We need Bad Boys 3. I was just watching Bad Boys 2 with my son and I told him you can’t open a movie better. That’s the best movie opening ever!”

But here was the problem. “Michael is too expensive now, he’s way too expensive.” Maybe Will Smith was joking, maybe not. Either way, it is not yet known who will be in the director’s chair once Bad Boys 4 starts rolling.

When it came to Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Adill and Bilal were back for this film after helming Bad Boys for Life in 2020.

BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE BOX OFFICE

Bad Boys: Ride or Die was definitely a success. The flick scored more than $400 million worldwide, with $193 million domestically and $208 million internationally. 

This put the whole franchise over the $1.2 billion mark in total global cash. Not bad at all. 

And critically, the flick did okay, getting mixed reviews, with a 63% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Was the plot super robust? No, but this was a Will Smith and Martin Lawrence film. It met expectations.

THE FIRST THREE BAD BOYS MOVIES

It was actually April 7, 1995. This was the day that Bad Boys premiered with its Michael Bay budget of $19 million. That same $19 million in today’s movie-making wouldn’t even cover Will Smith’s fee for being in the movie. But the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence buddy cop action flick brought in over $140 million, pretty much guaranteeing a sequel.

It took Michael Bay eight years, but a sequel is what we got. This time the budget was much different. In fact, the budget was so high it almost cost more to make the second Bad Boys than the first one brought in at the box office. The sequel’s cost? $130 million.

Thankfully the box office return for this one was double at over $273 million. Surely this meant the sequel would be a trilogy, right? Eventually. It took a long time to get to where we are though, at Bad Boys 4.

It was talked about for a long time, but finally, the Bad Boys were back. Mike Lowery (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) were back after a 17-year hiatus. Looking only a little bit older and a bit heavier, the duo jumped back into familiar roles with reckless abandon. This time Michael Bay didn’t come along, which may account for the film’s $90 million budget.

The filmmakers, along with both Smith and Martin Lawrence, were hoping for a killing at the box office but they may not have been expecting what they got. So far the movie has made close to $340 million at the theaters. Which lead us to Bad Boys 4.