Vanessa Hudgens is back for more Bad Boys
Vanessa Hudgens will reprise her role as Kelly in the series' imminent fourth film, alongside Martin Lawrence and Will Smith
The next chapter of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys just got badder (by which we mean better) than ever: Vanessa Hudgens is officially set to reprise her role as Kelly in Bad Boys 4, which Deadline reports is currently in pre-production at Sony Pictures. The Spring Breakers star was most recently seen onscreen in Netflix’s Tick, Tick… Boom!, The Princess Switch series, and 2022's Asking For It.
Smith first teased that he and Lawrence were cooking up a fourth Bad Boys movie back in February, via an Instagram video where Smith takes viewers for a ride to Lawrence’s house. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (known for the shelved Batgirl film) will return as directors for this film, working off of a script by Chris Bremner. The directing duo most recently collaborated on the 2022 film Rebel, the story of a Muslim family divided about the future of one of their younger members. The film premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. They’ve also worked together on the small screen, helming both the pilot and finale for Marvel’s acclaimed Ms. Marvel series, which streams on Disney+.
Bad Boys hasn’t had a new installment since the pre-pandemic third film, Bad Boys For Life, premiered in January 2020. Back then, the franchise most certainly left things on a high note. Per Deadline, the film made more than $426 million at the worldwide box office, with a domestic four-day opening of $73M—the second-best Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend ever. Jerry Bruckheimer, Smith for Westbrook, Doug Belgrad and Chad Oman will all serve as producers, with Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman and Jon Mone stepping in to executive produce. Plot details for the film are still strictly under wraps.