Get ready, fans of Bad Boys – after a decade and a half of waiting, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have confirmed their participation in a third instalment of the movie series, to be titled Bad Boys For Life.

A full 15 years on from Bad Boys 2, Martin Lawrence confirmed this week on Instagram that he’ll be returning as Marcus Burnett, alongside Will Smith’s character of Mike Lowrey.

The duo confirmed the good news in a short clip, in which Smith is heard saying: “Yo, yo. I’m telling y’all. I’m telling y’all this is crazy, wait, wait, just wait — it’s official!” and also posting a throwback picture.

The two stars have always at least appeared to be amenable to the idea of returning for a third series in the franchise, but the sticking point has consistently been the issue of finding time in their schedules when they were both free. In October this year, it was reported that Smith had signed up for Bad Boys 3, and that it was a case of merely waiting for official confirmation that Lawrence had joined him.

The build-up to Bad Boys For Life hasn’t been without troubles behind the camera either. In 2015, ‘The Grey’s Joe Carnahan signed on as a possible writer and director for the project, before suddenly quitting over scheduling trouble or “creative differences”.

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Then, earlier in 2018, it was confirmed that Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah – who have worked on episodes of FX's ‘Snowfall’ and are also involved with the even-longer delayed Beverly Hills Cop 4 - would take charge, from a script by Chris Bremner.

The latest information for a release date is not confirmed, but current sources believe we may finally see the third Bad Boys film on January 17th, 2020, with filming and production commencing early in 2019.

Martin LawrenceMartin Lawrence performing stand-up in 2015

With the first movie appearing way back in 1995, and its sequel following eight years later in 2003, Bad Boys has attained a significant cult following down the years - with a brilliant reference coming in Hot Fuzz, most notably.

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