Bad Boys 4: Everything We Know About Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Bad Boys apparently really are for life as it seems that this action-packed franchise isn’t ending anytime soon with Sony Pictures’ Bad Boys 4 set to reach theatres in just a couple months. This series, centered on detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett of the Miami Police Department, has already produced three blockbuster films that have grossed over $840 million as well as a spinoff television show, L.A.’s Finest, making it one of the most successful buddy-cop action-comedy series in history. The most recent film, Bad Boys for Life, was one of the last movies to hit theaters before the pandemic shut them all down and was able to be a critical and box office success – so why would the franchise stop now? Will Smith and Martin Lawrence (Lowery and Burnett) are back for the fourth film, and this is music to the ears of fans of the series since Bad Boys for Life left several loose ends and potential plot-lines for the detectives to follow and adding another movie to the franchise is the perfect way to address them. So, all of that said, let’s take a further look into everything we know about Bad Boys 4, a.k.a. Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Plot

In the first Bad Boys, the detectives’ biggest career bust of confiscated heroin was stolen from a police vault by a drug kingpin. The second film involved the Russian Mafia and a Haitian gang. The third film started with a cartel kingpin’s widow escaping from prison and sending her son out to kill a list of people, including Mike. So far, nobody besides the people working on the movie know the plot of the fourth film. That said, based off of the information and loose ends that occurred at the end of Bad Boys for Life we can make a couple of educated guesses.

The plot that makes the most sense for a sequel would most likely see Mike and Marcus working on a new case with AMMO with a side-plot of Mike mending/working on his relationship with his son. Fans will remember that the last movie ended with Mike and Marcus being put in charge of AMMO with Mike visiting his son, Armando, in prison and offering him a chance at redemption, so this plot would follow up on those loose ends. Again, this is all speculation, but it would be odd for the previous movie to give such heavy leads and them completely dismiss them.

Cast

As mentioned, stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are returning as detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, with Eric Dane (known for Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy) playing the movie’s villain. Actor Ioan Gruffudd (known for Fantastic 4) has also been cast in an undisclosed role and Tasha Smith has been cast to replace Theresa Randle as Marcus Burnett’s wife. Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn also signed on for an undisclosed role, as has Melanie Liburd of This Is Us.

Despite the cast not having a long confirmed list, just like with the plot, we can speculate about who may or may not appear in the film. Since Mike and Marcus were put in charge of AMMO it was assumed that the other members of the group would return as well, meaning that Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, and Jacob Scipio could all easily show up. Indeed, Hudgens and Ludwig are back, but Charles Melton, who just broke out (and may be Oscar-nominated) for May December, doesn’t seem to be in the cast. Scipio also seems to be sitting the movie out, despite the fact that his character, who is revealed to be the son of Will Smith’s Mike Lowery, was teed up to be a major part of the sequel in the post-credits scene following Bad Boys for Life. Also returning is Paola Núñez as Captain Rita Secada, newly promoted.

The Trailers

A couple of trailers have been released, and while the movie doesn’t have an informative official synopsis (it simply says, “Miami’s finest are now on the run”), we can glean some information by seeing how it’s marketed:

Everything Else

Fans assuredly will want to know when they can expect to see Miami’s finest detectives back on the big-screen, but unfortunately Bad Boys 4 doesn’t have an official release date yet. Not to mention, Bad Boys 4 is not the official title since the film has not revealed what it is yet, which should be revealed on the trailer finally drops (which should happen any time now). This is Smith’s first theatrically released film since the infamous Oscar slap derailed his career (it would be ironic if they drop the trailer on Oscar Sunday). Whether this is a hit or not will tell us whether his career can bounce back.

The movie will be directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (they took over for OG director Michael Bay after the first two films – although he had a cameo in the third film) and will be written by Chris Bremner, the same man who penned Bad Boys for Life. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced all the other movies is back too. It will be El Arbi and Fallah’s first film since Batgirl was scrapped by WB.

When Does It Come Out?

Bad Boys 4 was initially slated for June 14th, 2024, but when the John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, was delayed a year, Sony pounced on its June 7th release date, despite competition from The Crow reboot.