When Sony says Bad Boys for Life, the studio means for life.
Just as Sony readies for the Friday release of the third installment of the action franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, it is making moves to develop a fourth entry, thus extending even further the sporadic buddy cop movie series that began in 1995.
Chris Bremner, who worked on Bad Boys for Life, has been tapped to pen the script, we have learned.
Smith and Lawrence are, of course, expected to return and the plan is therefore not to have the same time lag between Bad Boys II and Bad Boys for Life. The time lag was due to several factors, such as spiraling budgetary costs, but also about finding the right story.
The sequel had several fits and stops in recent years, with different writers and directors coming and going. The movie’s final writing credits include Joe Carnahan and Peter Craig receiving “story by” credit and sharing “screenplay by” credit with Bremner.
The movie has been garnering quite positive reviews and, despite the lines of “One last time” in the trailer, leaves plenty of room for a sequel by the end.
Bremner’s schedule is heating up as he is also writing National Treasure 3 for Disney, among other projects. That project is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who is also the producer behind Bad Boys for Life. He is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
The latest film to the Bad Boys Trilogy, titled Bad Boys For Life, could be considered the most action-packed yet most touching of them all, catches up with ladies man Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and married man Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) almost 15 years later after the last film. After having defended Miami—and almost destroying the city in the process—the crime-fighting duo faces a new threat in the new villain Isabel Artreas (Kate del Castillo) and her son Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio).
Smith and Lawrence—largely known to audiences for their roles on Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air and Martin, respectively—expertly filled those roles, carrying over a likeability and familiarity to the characters of Lowrey and Burnett. Audiences related enough that a sequel — Bad Boys II — premiered in July of 2003 (almost a decade later, mind you) with Michael Bay once again returning to the director’s chair. As expected, particularly given Bay’s boisterous resume at the time, he doubled down on the hyperviolence of the original film to create what some junk-food cinema connoisseurs (and modern genre auteurs such as Edgar Wright) consider to be a masterpiece of gonzo action.
While Bay did not return to the director’s chair for this year’s much-delayed second sequel, Bad Boys for Life, his music video aesthetics linger in the work of directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert. It’s all in the perpetually moving camera, the saturated neon, and the sweeping shots of the Atlantic ocean and the Miami skyline at dusk. Each kinetic shot is edited at a brisk clip, of course, recalling Bay’s original vision.
Bad Boys for Life wisely opts out of surpassing the over-the-top carnage of its predecessor. Instead, the film scales some things back to focus on its characters. The plot is a boilerplate revenge tale.
Keeping things within the area code, Bad Boys for Life tears a few pages out of the Michael Mann handbook by setting its sights on the relationship between the two cops: lifelong friends who joined the force together and have saved each other’s asses on countless occasions. Exploring the same themes of aging and friendship as Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood, Bad Boys for Life finds the two characters coming to terms with age and realizing they’re hardly the invincible superheroes that they once thought they were.
But they’re not alone. This time around, they’re joined by Rita (Paola Núñez), a former flame of Lowrey and the leader of a team of young police officers in a special outfit named AMMO (who are clearly being primed for their own series of films.) The youngbloods of AMMO are a new breed of cop: they do things by the book, and they’re sort of dorky compared to the ultra suave Lowrey and even family man Burnett. They also utilize technology to surveil and bring criminals to justice, eschewing the style of brute force and explosions that Lowry and Burnett have perpetually incurred the wrath of loveable Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano). The world is changing and they need to adapt — or quite literally die.
With this film, there’s a weighted currency to the more emotional moments in Bad Boys for Life. Screenwriters Chris Bremner, Peter Craig, and action movie favorite Joe Carnahan treat all of the drama with a dose of severity, even despite all the soap-iness. Unlike past chapters, the writers really try to dig into the characters and their motivations. Whereas Smith’s Lowery was once all suave and silk shirts, he’s given some depth here as his origins begin to surface. Smith, in turn, delivers a memorable performance with the material, one that’s equal parts funny, emotional, and introspective.
At the same time, Bad Boys for Life retains the irreverent sense of humor associated with the series without overtly relying on winks towards the audience, largely thanks to Lawrence’s performance. Throughout the film, Lawrence’s Burnett almost acts as an omnipotent narrator, someone who has seen every over-the-top car chase movie and provides just the right quip, parlaying exactly what your average know-it-all in the audience is thinking. Yet Lawrence’s comedic chops and affable charm make this device work, never coming off as cloying or too cute for its own good. Even when his humor feels like it may be undercutting the “drama” of a scene, it brings the audience back to reality: This is a Bad Boys movie.
Yes, don’t get it twisted: Bad Boys for Life is hardly an arty meditation on friendship, life, and aging. The film still delivers an impressive amount of car chases, gunfights, and explosions. Without spoiling too much, Smith beats up an informant, a dead body destroys a minivan, a helicopter crashes, and a motorcycle chase through the streets of Miami is the centerpiece of the picture. Bad Boys for Life even has the imagination to indulge in the supernatural.
Bad Boys for Life thrives from stellar action filmmaking and could be an affecting closer to an action film trilogy, even if there are moments that feel like an attempt to build a cinematic universe of sorts (including a post-credits tag). The quieter character gasps are appreciated, particularly following the extreme bombast of the second film, and while it could be a nice capper to a series that has spanned three decades, audiences would undoubtedly show up in another 17 years just to hang out with Mike and Marcus again. Maybe even two years.
Bad Boys for Life crashes into theaters on January 17th.
Eddie Murphy is reflecting on his time at Saturday Night Live, including how he survived the show’s infamously tumultuous times in the 1980s.
In the first episode of SNL’s new web series Stories From the Show, Murphy details his time on the NBC series, including his rocky start. His first episode as a cast member aired Dec. 13, 1980, right after the original cast and series creator Lorne Michaels left. Murphy recalls the audience’s disdain for the changes: “It was hard at first for the simple fact that the show was so beloved,” he says. “So the audience was like, ‘F— all of y’all, and f— this show.’”
The comedian, who was just 19 at the time, says he wasn’t fazed because he was just “so happy” to be on television. After his first year on the show, Murphy says head writer Michael O’Donoghue “came in and fired everybody,” except for Murphy and Joe Piscopo. The reason he made the cut was simple, Murphy says: He ate fake dog food during a Weekend Update sketch.
“[O’Donoghue] came in and said, ‘And the only reason Murphy didn’t get fired was because he ate that dog food,’” Murphy recalls, adding that he told O’Donoghue it wasn’t dog food, it was hash. “He looked at me like ‘What the f—?’ But it was too late and I kept the show. But I was that close. If he had known that was hash, none of this would be happening.”
Murphy eventually left the show in 1984 to pursue his burgeoning film career. In December, Murphy notably returned to the SNL stage for the first time in 35 years as host, bringing back some of his most memorable characters to boot.
Watch the first episode of Stories From the Show above.
Source: EW
A couple (Issa Rae & Kumail Nanjiani) experiences a defining moment in their relationship when they are unintentionally embroiled in a murder mystery. As their journey to clear their names takes them from one extreme – and hilarious – circumstance to the next, they must figure out how they, and their relationship, can survive the night.
The film opens in theaters April 3rd.
Watch the trailer below:
The comedian and actor Dave Chappelle on Tuesday officially endorsed Andrew Yang, a tech entrepreneur, for president.
“I’m Yang Gang,” Chappelle said, according to a statement from Yang’s 2020 campaign.
Chappelle is set to perform two shows in South Carolina, a crucial early-voting state, later this month to benefit Yang’s campaign.
“Dave is one of the most important voices in our country today and I’m thrilled he has thrown his support behind this campaign,” Yang said in the statement. “He and I share similar concerns about the future and hopes for what it could be. We are also parents who see the world that we are leaving to our kids and believe they deserve better.”
Chappelle is among the most famous comedians in the US. In October, he received the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Yang entered the 2020 campaign season as a relatively unknown figure but has managed to make a dent in the race and outlast better-known politicians who have already dropped out, such as Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
The latest polling from Morning Consult places Yang in sixth place overall among Democratic primary voters.
With that said, Yang did not qualify for Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate, which comes less than a month before the Iowa caucuses.
Andrew Yang✔@AndrewYang
Thank you @DaveChappelle and welcome to the #yanggang. You are the best. Let’s do this for our kids.
“12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen and actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal have inked deals with Amazon.
McQueen’s deal is an overall which will see him create and produce content for Amazon Studios. As part of the deal, the television project “Last Days,” a Lammas Park and See-Saw Films production, has been put into development.
“Last Days” is described as a gripping sci-fi thriller where the world’s governments have secretly created a controversial plan to selectively colonize Mars in the wake of a dying Earth and the rise of AI. The series will follow one woman’s journey to explore the truth about where she came from, at the risk of losing everything she knows.
“I’m thrilled about this new venture and partnership with Amazon. The idea of having a partner that will support and facilitate risk and change is more than exciting,” said McQueen.
Garcia Bernal and Luna’s deal is a first-look. The duo currently serve as executive producers on the upcoming “Untitled Cortés and Moctezuma” limited series from Amazon Studios and Amblin Television. As part of the deal, Bernal and Luna will create and produce content for Amazon Studios. The pair recently announced their new production house in Mexico, La Corriente del Golfo, an independent company for cinematic, theatrical, and television productions and a variety of community-oriented projects.
“We are delighted and grateful at La Corriente del Golfo for our first look deal with Amazon Studios,” said Bernal. “This provides an opportunity for us and for talent in Latin America to create ambitious and interesting projects.”
“This is an important moment for everyone at La Corriente del Golfo. We are very excited to work hand in hand with Amazon, as this will allow us to reach new audiences and to tell stories that represent us and reflect our realities,” added Luna.
In addition, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke announced an overall deal with Brad Pitt’s Plan B production shingle at the platform’s Television Critics’ Association press tour day.
Source: Variety
Based on the bestselling comic book, Vin Diesel stars as Ray Garrison, a soldier recently killed in action and brought back to life as the superhero Bloodshot by the RST corporation. With an army of nanotechnology in his veins, he’s an unstoppable force –stronger than ever and able to heal instantly. But in controlling his body, the company has sway over his mind and memories, too. Now, Ray doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not – but he’s on a mission to find out.
Directed by: David S. F. Wilson
Produced by: Neal H. Moritz
Toby JaffeDinesh Shamdasani
Vin Diesel
Cast: Vin Diesel
Eiza Gonzalez
Sam Heughan
Oscar winner Jared Leto sinks his teeth into a Marvel Comics horror character who dates back to 1971 in the first trailer for Sony’s Morbius. For Sony’s Columbia Pictures, Morbius (July 31) is part of a mining expedition into the unexplored corners of the Spider-Man universe, an initiative that already has produced a sleeper hit in the review-proof Venom with Tom Hardy.
Morbius is another horror-tinged bad guy plucked from the decades of published Spider-Man adventures and given a tailored stand-alone screen story that doesn’t rely on Peter Parker as a protagonist. The most intriguing and unexpected element of the teaser: Oscar-winner Michael Keaton pops up in the preview reprising the role of Adrien Toomes, aka the Vulture, the now-imprisoned tech-scavenging villain from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Toomes presence in the trailer represents the first major bridge between the Sony expanded Spider universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Like many classic Marvel Comics characters (both villains and heroes), the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius is a figure of affliction — an outsider soul whose superhuman abilities arrive packaged with tragedy and calamity.
The Morbius synopsis from Sony: “Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success soon reveals itself to be a remedy potentially worse than the disease.”
Leto won an Oscar for portraying HIV-positive trans woman Rayon in Jean-Marc Vallée’s 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club and, with Suicide Squad in 2016, he joined the celebrated roster of actors who have portrayed the Joker on the big screen — a list that includes Joaquin Phoenix, the late Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, Cesar Romero and voice actor Mark Hamill.
Daniel Espinosa directed the film, working off a script by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and a story by Sazama & Sharpless. Morbius is produced by Matt Tolmach, Avi Arad, and Lucas Foster.
Leto leads a cast that also features former Doctor Who star Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane, the lab-created bloodsucker first appeared as a Spider-Man villain in a Halloween 1971 issue and over the years has been given a solo spotlight as a fan-favorite and one of the few non-supernatural vampires in pop culture.
Source: Deadline
Actor and rapper Method Man will star in a spinoff of Power at Starz.
He joins the previously cast Mary J. Blige on the show, titled Power Book II: Ghost. The premium cable outlet has said the drama is an extension of its flagship series Power, which is set to air its series finale on Feb. 9.
Method Man (seen in character in the image at the top of this post) will play an attorney named Davis Maclean. Brilliant, ethically challenged and harboring a few secrets of his own, Davis is drawn into the Power world on multiple axes, and in a world riddled with murder and drugs, the only thing he’s addicted to is winning.
Power creator Courtney Kemp said Ghost will “continue the journey of some of Power‘s most controversial characters,” though despite its title it won’t necessarily focus on James “Ghost” St. Patrick, played by Omari Hardwick.
Details of Blige’s role in the show are being kept quiet.
Power is Starz’s most-watched original series, with season five having averaged 12 million viewers across all platforms. Kemp’s overall deal at Starz parent Lionsgate includes the development of “projects inspired by the world of” the show.
Method Man is coming off HBO’s The Deuce. The Wu-Tang Clan member’s acting credits also include The Wire, TBS’ The Last O.G., VH1’s The Breaks and the feature films Keanu, Trainwreck and How High. He is repped by CAA, Shauna Garr and Frankfurt Kurnit.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter