The new trailer for Bad Boys For Life starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence drops tomorrow. Released in 1995, the original Bad Boys helped rocket lead actors Smith and Lawrence to stardom while establishing Michael Bay’s reputation as one of Hollywood’s top action directors. The film was a solid hit with $141 million at the box office, but it would take until 2003 for a sequel to appear. That sequel, Bad Boys II, brought back Smith, Lawrence and Bay, and was again a strong performer at the box office with $273 million worldwide.

It’s now been almost seventeen years since the second movie, and it’s safe to say both stars and director Bay are in very different places career-wise than they were in 2003. Indeed, Bay has moved on entirely from the Bad Boys franchise, handing off directing duties on the upcoming third movie to Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Smith and Lawrence both are back however, and will be joined by Vanessa Hudgens, Joe Pantoliano (reprising the role of dyspeptic Captain Howard), Charles Melton and Alexander Ludwig. A first trailer for the long-awaited movie dropped in early September.

Now, a second Bad Boys For Life trailer is getting set for release, and that release has been teased with a new video posted to Twitter via the official Bad Boys account. See the clip in the space below:

In the third Bad Boys film, which is being touted as the end of the franchise, Lawrence’s Burnett has been promoted to police inspector while Smith’s Lowery finds himself in the middle of a midlife crisis. Both men are about to retire when a Romanian mob boss comes after them in retaliation on behalf of his brother. At least going by the first trailer, the sequel’s new directors haven’t strayed far from the action-heavy Bay style, and Lawrence and Smith are still doing the same hip buddy-cop routine they introduced in the original movie. The first trailer also teased a trio of new, younger cop characters played by Hudgens, Ludwig and Melton.

The question is, will audiences in 2019 respond to the Bad Boys For Life formula made up of old-fashioned buddy-cop tropes, Bay-style flash and Lawrence/Smith attitude? Obviously, it’s been a long time since the last Bad Boys movie, and frankly the whole buddy-cop genre is nowhere near as vital as it once was. And needless to say, Lawrence and Smith are not as big as they were back in 2003. Smith indeed is coming off a major bomb with Gemini Man, so it’s fair to wonder if he has any clout left when it comes to drawing audiences. Bad Boys For Life truthfully seems like a better potential overseas performer than a domestic one, but it remains to be seen how the movie does in theaters.

More: Joe Carnahan Left Bad Boys 3 Due to Creative Clashes With Will Smith

Source: Bad Boys/Twitter

  • Bad Boys 3 Release Date: 2020-01-17