Joe Pantoliano to return for Bad Boys for Life

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

A third installment of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's BAD BOYS franchise has been in various stages of development for a decade, but at long last, Smith and Lawrence officially announced last month that they would be returning to star in the long-belated sequel. It turns out that the two stars won't be the only BAD BOYS veterans to return for BAD BOYS FOR LIFE as Deadline has reported that Joe Pantoliano is slated to join up as well.

Joe Pantoliano played Captain Conrad Howard in both BAD BOYS and BAD BOYS II, the exasperated and quick-to-anger superior of detectives Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Smith). Plot details for the upcoming sequel haven't yet been revealed, but I can imagine that Burnett and Lowrey are still doing everything they can to push poor Captain Howard to the limit. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (GANGSTA) have signed on to direct BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, which has been scripted by Chris Bremner and is expected to kick off production next month for a January 17, 2020 release.

Before Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah boarded BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, Joe Carnahan (THE GREY) was slated to write and  direct the project before he departed due to scheduling conflicts. When he was still involved, Carnahan had teased that BAD BOYS FOR LIFE would have been the "strongest of the trilogy thus far," adding that the film would have dealt with "what becomes of Bad Boys when they're not boys anymore." Carnahan also said that "there’s a lot of funny shit in this movie, and there’s also a very mysterious, but tonally spot-on story that I think is kind of perfect for where we are in this day and age, where the guys are and reflectively, a very modern take on these guys." Once the return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence was made official, Carnahan hinted on Twitter that his script, or at least part of it, will still be used.