Few stars have had a fall from grace so spectacular that they went from huge bankable star to persona non grata in the time it takes to slap someone. Don’t count Will Smith out just yet, though. He didn’t become that famous by sitting around, and now it looks like he’s ready to make his comeback.
In a cheery, upbeat video that makes no mention of the fact that Smith slapped a man on live TV and then danced around with an Oscar in his hand later, Smith announced that ’90s franchise Bad Boys was going to be coming back for a fourth installment.
Smith, with a camera in his hand, drove to an undisclosed location in the video. He knocked on a door and his co-star Martin Lawrence opened the door, and the two long-time friends started riffing.
“It’s official, y’all,” Smith said. “Bad Boys for life, baby! For life!”
Lawrence pointed out something obvious, “But we did For Life… but, it’s still Bad Boys for life!”
“We shouldn’t have called it that, though,” Smith answered. “But, this is Bad Boys 4, it’s official.”
The last Bad Boys movie, Bad Boys for Life, came out in 2020 and was a surprise hit. It grossed around $427 million on a budget of $90 million, so it makes sense that this would be the thing Smith uses to try to get his stalled career back on track.
There was a moment there when it looked like the movie wasn’t going to happen, but maybe Sony Pictures decided the benefits of making the movie outweighed the risks. Smith’s last major release, Emancipation, was supposed to be Smith’s triumphant return to mainstream audiences, but it tanked.
The Bad Boys movie is honestly Smith’s best shot as it’s a well-known franchise with a history of making money, and Smith isn’t the only lead. Smith has apologized twice for the slap but has otherwise kept a fairly low profile besides begging people to watch Emancipation.
Time will tell but it’ll be interesting to see how this one shakes out. We’ll keep you posted.