'Bad Boys 3' And 'Bad Boys 4' Coming In 2017 And 2019

Sony has officially announced that they will be releasing Bad Boys 3 in February 2017 and Bad Boys 4 in July 2019. More details after the jump.

Not much more is known at this time. Sony dated a dozen upcoming films which included the Bad Boys sequels: Bad Boys 3 is scheduled to hit theaters on February 17th 2017, while Bad Boys 4 will hit theaters two years later: on July 3rd 2019.

In June 2015, we learned that writer-director Joe Carnahan (The Grey) was circling the action sequel, while Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were being courted to return. Carnahan was in early talks to rewrite the script by David Guggenheim (Safe House), and possibly direct.

Comedian/actor Martin Lawrence appeared on Conan in August 2014 and announced that Bad Boys 3 was in the works:

"I believe so. Yes. I just talked to Jerry Bruckheimer yesterday and he said its real, they're working on the script, they're getting close and it all looks good."

In July, Lawrence publicly called upon his Bad Boys co-star Will Smith to make a third film happen. Last we heard, David Guggenheim (Safe House) was hired to write a script for Bad Boys 3, with the hope is that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence would sign to return. Novelist Peter Craig had previously worked on the threequel. At that time, Michael Bay wasn't involved in the project, despite making the first two movies. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said in April 2014 that Bad Boys 3 was a victim of bad timing:

It's so funny because we'll get Sony real excited to make the movie, and then Will [Smith] is off doing two movies. And then, Will will come back and be real excited about it, and Sony will say, 'Well, maybe it's not the time for this.' And then, Ride Along came out and was a big hit, and now they're all excited to make the movie, but Will is off doing something else. It's just trying to get everybody together to make it. But, we're working on the script. We have a lot of faith and hope that we'll do it.

Fans have been asking for a third Bad Boys film for a while. Will Smith has said in the past that he had an idea for Bad Boys 3, but added that the reason the film wasn't getting made is because director Michael Bay) "is too expensive now." And it looks like the Bad Boys sequels will happen with Bay in the directors chair, which will disappoint some fans of the franchise.

Carnahan seems like a solid choice to take over as he has experience with big-budget action, thanks to The A-Team, and his resume is full of other macho thrillers like The Grey, Smoking Aces, and Narc. His last feature was Stretch, a dark comedy-thriller that went straight to VOD. Outside of movies, Carnahan most recently worked on episodes of The Blacklist and State of Affairs. He signed on earlier this year to rewrite and direct DreamWorks' Motorcade.

The car chase sequence in Bad Boys 2 is very under-appreciated, and is probably (wait for it.. hyperbolic statement coming up... in 3...2...1..) one of the best car chase action sequences of the last decade (seen below).