After many years, the long-gestating Bad Boys 3 is taking one more step towards finally being made.
The sequel has been under development for quite some time, and now there are new reports saying that Sony is looking at Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces) to replace Michael Bay as director on the next installment. More on the story below.
According to Deadline, everything is moving quickly for Bad Boys 3. Though Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have yet to be confirmed to reprise their respective roles, the studio wants to have something ready for once Smith has completed his work on Suicide Squad.
The Wrap adds that there is no deal set in place yet, but the studio is impressed with Carnahan’s line of work. With him having directed gritty action-centric character-driven films, it’s easy to see why Sony might want him to direct the sequel. Carnahan is expected to rewrite the script by David Guggenheim (Safe House).
Smith and Lawrence both starred in the first two films of the franchise, in 1999 and 2003, both of which were directed by Bay, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Combined, the two Bad Boys films grossed an estimated $414 million worldwide.
Perhaps the reason why no offers have been made to Bay is because Sony wants to get Bad Boys 3 into production as soon as possible, and with Bay busy with 13 Hours and a possible Transformers 5 directing gig waiting for him as soon as he is done with that, it only makes sense for the studio to start looking else where. Still, there is a bit of a disappointment for fans who expected Bay to return to direct the closing entry of the trilogy.
Carnahan is coming off the Blumhouse production Stretch. Other previous feature directing efforts include The A-Team, Narc, and the aforementioned Smokin’ Aces. He’s also directed multiple episodes of TV series The Blacklist and State of Affairs, including the pilot episodes for both shows.
[Source: The Wrap | Deadline]
Bad Boys was in 1995
Comment by radbmw — June 10, 2015 @ 12:37 pm