American comedian and 'Bad Boys' actor Martin Lawrence has weighed in on the future of the franchise in the wake of co-star Will Smith's slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.
According to Deadline, in a recent interview with Ebony, the actor dismissed the notion that the slap has put an end to plans for the fourth Bad Boys film, first announced in 2020. "We got one more at least," he claimed.
His comments were in line with those of Sony chairman and CEO Tom Rothman, who in a recent interview with Deadline said that the idea the brakes have been pumped on the sequel is "inaccurate."
"That movie's been in development and still is. There weren't any brakes to pump because the car wasn't moving. That was a very unfortunate thing that happened, and I don't think it's really my place to comment, except to say that I've known Will Smith for many years, and I know him to be a good person," said Rothman.
Directed by Michael Bay, the original Bad Boys introduced viewers to Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Smith), two hip detectives who look to protect a witness to a murder, while investigating a case of stolen heroin from the evidence storage room of their police precinct.
The buddy cop pic debuted in April of 1995 and grossed over USD 141 million, spurring sequels 'Bad Boys II' (2003) and 'Bad Boys for Life' (2020), as per Deadline.
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