As it Turns Out, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are ‘Bad Boys For Life’

The gang's all here for Bad Boys for Life, including Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Joey Pants all for their third go around. But that's about it. Nobody else is back, Tea Leoni's not pulling out a last minute cameo, nor is Gabrielle Union. So maybe the more appropriate title would have been Bad Boys More or Less.

The truly interesting thing about this threequel is that there's no involvement from Michael Bay whatsoever. Bay directed both the 1995 original and the 2003 sequel, but here he's not only not directing the film, he has no writing or producing credit, either. Bay hasn't made many non-Transformer-related movies since 2003, but it's curious that he wasn't asked back. Likely to cut down on production time, which is why they went with a younger, scrappier directing team. Oh, and get used to directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, as they'll next be handling directorial duties on Beverly Hills Cop 4.

Original producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also back, producing along with Will Smith. Martin Lawrence has no creative credits on the film, so he must just be happy he can put off making any more Big Momma's House movies, at least temporarily. Black Knight 2 anyone? They set up a sequel, if memory serves.

Most terrifying of all, the film has a January release date, which is usually a sign that no one has confidence in the film's prospects. But who knows, maybe people will be sick of seeing Star Wars 9, Jumanji 3, Frozen 2, and Cats in a rotating schedule by then. Bad Boys for Life opens on January 17, 2020.