Ride or Die’ Image — Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Are on the Hunt

One of the most anticipated blockbusters of Summer 2024 just got an action-packed new look and a promising update from its two leading stars. In an interview with Empire Magazine, which also revealed an exclusive image, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence sat down to talk about their upcoming reunion. Bad Boys: Ride or Die will be the fourth entry in the Bad Boys franchise, which dates back to the 1995 classic that is hailed as one of the best buddy cop dramas of all-time. After a 17-year hiatus between Bad Boys 2 in 2013 and Bad Boys for Life in 2020, Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) are back in the saddle following a much shorter break for yet another adventure.

In an era where so many studios are chasing major franchise success, but are also quick to give up on something that doesn’t immediately earn financial and critical validation, reaching four movies is no small feat. Smith talked about returning for the fourth film, mentioning how it was important to him to take big swings and do things to stand out from other legacy sequels:

“I always hate when you see sequels that are victory laps. In Ride of Die we’re taking some really aggressive creative shots. We wanted to push the envelope of how much life experience and age specificity you can put into these movies. There’s a spiritual aspect to it that I think people will be like ‘Okay, that’s an interesting evolution for Marcus’ character.'”

The pair also mentioned how 1976’s Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson provided some inspiration as to the extraordinary highs the action genre can achieve. The 2020 threequel, Bad Boys for Life, was a mostly positive mixed bag for critics, with a 76% score on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn’t stop general audiences — which rated the film a near perfect 96% — from having a blast.

Martin Lawrence Is Excited To Embrace a New Character Arc in ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’

In addition to coming up with fresh ideas for new stories, it’s also equally important for any franchise to continually evolve its characters. Lawrence agreed with his co-star, and also expressed excitement to embrace a new challenge with Marcus Burnett, and also teased that more Bad Boys projects may be coming in the future:

“They found something interesting and different from all the movies we’ve done. In four, you’re gonna see something different. I’m going to carry on as long as my brother carries on, it’ll be very hard to get rid of me.”

Bad Boys is quickly approaching its 20th anniversary in 2025, but neither Smith nor Lawrence are showing any signs of slowing down. The 2020 continuation Bad Boys for Life grossed more than $400 million at the worldwide box office, and if Ride or Die finds similar success, more team-ups by Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett may very well be on the Miami horizon.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die premieres exclusively in theaters June 7, 2024. Check out the new image above and stay tuned to Collider for future updates and coverage of the film.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Fourth installment of the ‘Bad Boys’ film series.

Release Date

June 7, 2024

Director

Adil El Arbi , Bilall Fallah

Writers

Chris Bremner , George Gallo

Studio

Sony Pictures