Sony Chairman Confirms Bad Boys 4 Development and Will Smith's Involvement

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The 65th Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, with the Recording Academy celebrating 50 years of hip-hop and paying tribute to the genre's rich history. Will Smith was initially scheduled to be part of the tribute but had to pull out due to filming commitments.

Questlove confirmed Smith's planned appearance when speaking to Variety on the red carpet of the event. “I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was apart of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting ‘Bad Boys 4’ this week,” Questlove told Variety‘s Marc Malkin on the red carpet.

“There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will”.

Bad Boys 4: What We Know So Far

Last week, it was confirmed that Bad Boys 4 was in early pre-production with directors Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah returning after their success with Bad Boys for Life.

Smith will reprise his role alongside Martin Lawrence, with Jerry Bruckheimer and Will Smith's Westbrook Productions producing the sequel. Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman, along with Lawrence, James Lassiter, Barry Waldman, Mike Stenson, and Jon Mone, will also be producing the film.

Back in May 2022, Sony Chairman Tom Rothman confirmed that the movie was in early production and had been in development since 2021. Smith has not had a significant star vehicle attached to him since last year, and Bad Boys 4 could prove to be a significant test for him.

"(Bad Boys 4) That movie's been in development and still is. There weren't any brakes to pump because the car wasn't moving," Rothman told the press. "That was a very unfortunate thing that happened (at the Oscars), 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.

That was an example of a very good person having a very bad moment, in front of the world. I believe his apology and regret is genuine, and I believe in forgiveness and redemption."