Bad Boys 4: Vanessa Hudgens to reprise her role for the sequel starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence

Bad Boys 4 is pulling out all the stops by inviting fan-favorite characters back to the franchise for another action-packed thrill ride! According to Deadline, Vanessa Hudgens will reprise her role as Kelly in the sequel starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Smith and Martin confirmed Bad Boys 4 is happening via an enthusiastic Instagram post in January. Bad Boys 4 is in pre-production at Sony Pictures, with Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to shoot the sequel. Plot details remain a mystery. However, Chris Bremner (The Man from Toronto, The Wedding Ringer, Bad Boys for Life) wrote the script, and cameras will roll in the coming months.

Before the Covid pandemic threw the world into chaos and lockdown, the third movie in the Bad Boys franchise, Bad Boys for Life, banked over $426M worldwide. Altogether, the Bad Boys franchise earned $870.7M globally. In other words, there’s no reason not to make another sequel (and more money), especially with Smith trying to polish his image after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars for making a crack about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith became the butt of several jokes at the 95th Academy Awards this past Sunday. However, Smith is determined to make a comeback despite being banned from the Academy for a decade and select Hollywood parties keeping their distance.

Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith for Westbrook, Doug Belgrad, and Chad Oman return to produce Bad Boys 4. Meanwhile, Martin Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman, and Jon Mone are executive producers.

After becoming a highlight of Disney’s High School Musical series, Hudgens played Blondie in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. She starred in several features, including Machete Kills, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and the Princess Switch trilogy. Her recent credits include Bad Boys for Life, Tick, Tick… Boom!, and Kid Cudi’s animated drama Entergalactic. Hudgens plays Kelly in the Bad Boys franchise, a weapons expert of AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations).

Are you excited about Bad Boys 4? Do you think the sequel will help Smith get back into Hollywood’s good graces? Feel free to let us know in the comments section.