Will Smith’s ‘Bad Boys for Life’ Resurrected for January 2020 Release

Nine months after it was removed from the release slate, “Bad Boys for Life” is back on schedule as Sony Pictures gave the film a new release date: January 17, 2020.

This marks the latest chapter in the saga to bring a third “Bad Boys” film to the big screen, fifteen years after the release of “Bad Boys II.” After years in development hell, “Bad Boys III” was announced back in 2015, with action filmmker Joe Carnahan attached to direct and a release set for February 2017.

Also Read: Jerry Bruckheimer's 'Bad Boys' TV Spinoff Starring Gabrielle Union Gets NBC Pilot Order

But in 2016, the project was repeatedly moved back until Carnahan left the project in March 2017 due to scheduling conflicts. Sony removed the film from their schedule last August, at which point franchise star Martin Lawrence said he doubted whether the film would be made at all..

Now the threequel is once again on its way with a release on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah set to direct. The two Moroccan-born Belgians recently released the action thriller “Gangsta” and directed the first two episodes of the FX series “Snowfall.” Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are slated to return as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett.

Also Read: Tom Hanks' Mister Rogers Drama 'You Are My Friend' Lands at TriStar

Sony also set the release date for the true-story drama “You Are My Friend,” which stars Tom Hanks as “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” creator Fred Rogers. TriStar will release the film on October 18, 2019, with Marielle Heller (“Diary of a Teenage Girl”) directing from a script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster.

The film tells the true story of Tom Junod, a cynical journalist who begrudgingly agrees to do a profile piece on Rogers, but finds his life transformed by the experience as he gains a life-long friend in the famous children’s TV star.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Jessica Alba to Star With Gabrielle Union in NBC's 'Bad Boys' Spinoff

'Bad Boys 3' Update: Martin Lawrence Says Movie Won't Happen After All

Tom Hanks' Mister Rogers Biopic 'You Are My Friend' Lands at TriStar