Bad Boys: Ride or Die sees Will Smith and Martin Lawrence back in action, and Screen Rant attended the movie’s red carpet outside of the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Written by Chris Bremner and Will Beall and directed by Bad Boys for Life and Ms. Marvel helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Bad Boys: Ride or Die picks up where Bad Boys for Life left off, but still invites new viewers along for the ride.

This time around, Smith’s Mike Lowrey and Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett set off to clear the name of the deceased Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano). Bad Boys: Ride or Die first reactions teased a hilarious, high-octane movie and a potential franchise best, which is especially impressive given that it’s the fourth movie in a franchise that dates back to 1995. Audiences can find out how it all shakes out for themselves when the movie this theaters on June 7.

Screen Rant attended the premiere of Bad Boys: Ride or Die and spoke with stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and other key cast and filmmaking team members.

Will Smith & Martin Lawrence Share Their Favorite Things About Working Together

Screen Rant: What are each of your favorite things about working with the other on Bad Boys?

Will Smith: It’s just fun for me. It’s fun, you know. This guy right here is an absolute comedic genius, so it’s fun to just be standing across the scene, watching, looking in his eyes, seeing how his mind is working, and what he’s going to say next and all that. It’s a comedic masterclass.

Martin Lawrence: With him, it’s the same thing—Watching him work and come up and create. He’s sharp. He can do the comedic and the drama.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Directors Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah On Leveling Up The Franchise & Coyote Vs. Acme

I got to see this a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it. How did you find a way to make it funnier and bigger than the last movie? How much work did that take?

Adil El Arbi: It big challenge to make something that’s not a copy of the previous one. [We], together with Will and Martin, [the] screenwriter, Chris Bremner, and Jerry [Bruckheimer], were thinking, “Okay, how do we put as much flavor and as much energy in every sequence so that it’s different?” And I think it worked out.

You picked up where Michael Bay left off after Bad Boys II. I know he had a cameo in the last film. Is there any advice you got from him on this latest one or any ways that you kept his work in mind when you were making it?

Adil El Arbi: You might need to bleep this one, but.. “Don’t F up my baby.” That’s what he said.Bilall Fallah: And I said, “It’s our baby now.” Because we made two movies, and he made two movies. But we absolutely wanted to have a cameo of him. He is the godfather of the Bad Boys.

You were able to level this one up. It’s amazing. How many more of these do you want to make? Are you still thinking of places you can go in Bad Boys 5 and 6?

Adil El Arbi: It’s got to go international. We’ve not seen the Bad Boys in London or in Paris or in Asia. So, we’re ready for it.

You guys did Batgirl famously, and you were kind of the first to go through this [shelving] treatment, but then we just had it again with Coyote Vs. Acme. How do you feel about this being a trend? It seems so crazy.

Adil El Arbi: Yeah, it’s an extra thing to worry about in Hollywood, and that’s sad. I think that we all are artists. We are friends with Dave Green; he’s our boy. We hope that he will be able to do a movie in the future. I think that movies must be seen by the audience, and the audience must judge them.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Quinn Hemphill Gushes About Stunt Training & Working With The Bad Boys

What was your favorite part of getting to [be a part of] this? I feel like you got to do a lot and were so central to the movie.

Quinn Hemphill: I got a lot of stunt training, and I had a lot of fight choreography. So that was super new for me and really exciting. I worked with Jacob (Scipio) a ton, and he taught me so much. That was one of my favorite parts of filming.

Did you have an actor that you were the most hyped about doing scenes with?

Quinn Hemphill: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. But everybody—Rhea Seahorn plays my mom, and I admire her acting so much. Now, I just admire her as an all-around perfect person. It was incredible to act with her, and really, everybody in this cast is incredible. I feel so lucky to be a part of it.

I love your performance in this. I think your character brings so much heart to the movie, but is there something you are particularly excited for everyone to see when it comes out?

Quinn Hemphill: I’m really excited for everyone to see [that] Callie goes through this decision-making process where she has to question long-held beliefs and sort through her own feelings about things—not just what other people are telling her. I think that’s a really important lesson that I took from Callie, at least, so I’m excited for people to see it.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Co-Writer Chris Bremner On The Future Of The Franchise

I got the chance to see this, so I know how fun and funny it is. Was there something in particular you really wanted to lean into this time around?

Chris Bremner: It goes through cycles of what you’re leaning into. I remember the first idea for the movie, we came up with on the set of Bad Boys for Life, which is, “What if the Bad Boys were the bad guys?” And it got built around that idea. The early drafts were really focused on that, and then it really started leading into this idea of the curse. There are just so many different cycles that even answering that question….

I mean, I guess [it’s about] delivering the classic humor and those moments [too], but we were trying to evolve that Mike Lowrey character over the years. He’s a character who’s learned to change and now he’s got to continue to grow. Pushing him into unexpected—maybe melodramatic—emotional territory has been a big part of where the comedy actually comes from in the movie.

One of the things this does so well is bring back all these people who have been in the franchise throughout the years. How important was it for you to not only do that but make sure that everyone got their moment?

Chris Bremner: We always liked doing cameos. when we started doing through when the idea came out that it was an old case, and Captain Howard was putting it together. It was suddenly like, “Well, of course you’re going to go back to all these people, because why not?” Why invent new characters? It’s too many people for audiences to care about. Let’s go back to the greatest hits. There were a couple we couldn’t get or didn’t get, which I wish we could have had. But it was amazing to get John Salley—it was amazing to get some of these old greats.

I spoke to your directors who said they would love to take this international. Is there anywhere you would like to see the next movie set?

Chris Bremner: That’s a great question. My opinion is worth very little, but I actually think Southeast Asia could be a really interesting area for the Bad Boys to explore. It has tropical elements like Miami that they’ve come to appreciate. Europe could be cool, too. I feel like we’ve been to parts of Latin America. We could continue to go there, but it feels like the fresh territory might be Southeast Asia, Europe, or something like that. Maybe the Middle East. That’d be very cool, too.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Co-Writer Will Beall On Will Smith & Martin Lawrence Making Bad Boys A Dream Gig

What, to you, is the key thing you have to have in mind when you’re continuing this franchise that’s gone on for so long while still leveling it up?

Will Beall: I think Bremner really cracked the code in the last movie. In addition to [being] this great action comedy, it’s a little bit of a family drama, too. We tried to keep that going, and t’s blossomed into more of an ensemble—now you’ve got stuff for Reggie. I think they just keep getting better.

How much input on the script side did Will and Martin have? How collaborative are they on this?

Will Beall: Will is a really, really potent producer and somebody that has a great sense of story. And not just [in terms of] this character, but [he’s] somebody that, as a screenwriter, I learned a lot from. He’s a sharp guy—one of the best.