For the first time in a while a story about black people and police worth celebrating broke. The only catch is it’s about a movie. TMZ reports that Bad Boys 3, the next installment in the cop series starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, is pretty much a done deal.

Sources told the publication that Will Smith and Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the first two films, recently met to go over the contract and start working on a script. They reportedly met twice, over a four-hour dinner on Tuesday and a long lunch on Wednesday.

Bruckheimer is playing coy for now in the very early stages of planning and responded with a brief, “We’ll see” when asked if both Smith and Martin will be returning for the sequel.

It may be the optimist in me speaking here, but in a time where relations between black folks and police officers are very tenuous, this could be a good thing. Seeing two black actors playing police officers in a franchise that’s proven to be well-received is kind of a no-brainer and even offers a potential platform to lightly touch on some bigger issues.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Author

  • Keith Reid-Cleveland is a proud product of Chicago's Southside and the Missouri School of Journalism. The Black Youth Project News Editor has written about politics, race and entertainment for multiple publications, such as Uproxx, The Undefeated, Black Nerd Problems, Comic Book Resources and more.