Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Run For Their Lives in First ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Trailer: Watch

The Bad Boys are back, only this time they’re the ones on the run. In the first trailer for the upcoming fourth installment in the Bad Boys renegade cop action series, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Will Smith (Det. Lt. Michael “Mike” Lowery) and Martin Lawrence (Det. Lt. Marcus Burnett) have to take flight to solve the biggest case of their careers.

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The three-minute preview that dropped on Tuesday morning (March 26) opens with the partners stopping to get a snack at a convenience store where they swiftly dispatch an armed perp who clearly picked the wrong store, on the wrong day. Cut to the partners learning that their old boss, late Miami PD Capt. Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) had allegedly been secretly working with drug cartels for years, an assertion they think is bogus.

The pair then receive a beyond-the-grave message from Howard instructing them to clear his name, which, of course, sets off a series of explosive adventures as the fugitive cops run for their lives while looking for evidence to exonerate their boss. As you might expect, their time on the lam is accompanied by the requisite avalanche of explosions, gunfire and GIF-worthy quips along the way.

After director Michael Bay helmed the first two installments of the Miami-based comedy action franchise that launched in 1995, the pair behind the most recent installment, 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, are back behind the camera for the upcoming quadquel. The fourth chapter brings back characters previously portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, DJ Khaled, Paola Núñez and Jacob Scipio, while adding new faces John Salley, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Rhea Seahorn and Joyner Lucas.

The film represents a big screen return for Smith, who has been mostly laying low since his March 2022 onstage attack of Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards after the comedian told a joke about Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith’s previous film, the slavery drama Emancipation, had a selective release in theaters and then streamed on Apple TV+ in Dec. 2022; Bad Boys: Ride or Die will open exclusively in theaters on June 7.

Check out the Bad Boys: Ride or Die trailer below.

Gil Kaufman

Billboard