Bad Boys is a series of American action comedy films starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as two detectives in the Miami Police Department, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett.

Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett have 72 hours to find $100 million worth of heroin before Internal Affairs shuts them down.

Matters become complicated when Mike and Marcus have to switch places to convince a witness of the murder to cooperate.

Their search leads to a dangerous kingpin Johnny Tapia, whose plan to control the city's drug traffic has touched off an underground war.

In June 2008, Michael Bay stated that he might direct Bad Boys for Life, but that the greatest obstacle to the potential sequel would be the cost, as he and Will Smith demand some of the highest salaries in the film industry.

[1] By August 2009, Columbia Pictures had hired Peter Craig to write the script for Bad Boys III.

[6] Two months later, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that Bad Boys III would be released on February 17, 2017.

[12] During an appearance on Australian breakfast show Sunrise on January 15, 2018, Will Smith told hosts Samantha Armytage and David Koch that a third film was coming "very soon".

[15][16] In November 2018, Martin Lawrence officially revealed via Instagram that he and co-star Will Smith would return for a sequel.

[23] In April 2022, production for the film was reportedly halted due to the incident with Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony and the subsequent investigation.

[28] On June 7, 2024, Smith and Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly that they would be open to return for a fifth film in the franchise, as long as the younger cast members do more stunts and there's a story involving their characters worth being told, with Lawrence also noting it would depend on whether the fans demanded more films.

[33] In addition to Union, John Salley will also reprise his role as Fletcher, a computer hacker who helps Mike and Marcus in the film series.