The Bad Boys, it is safe to say, ain’t going nowhere. The newest feature in the franchise, Bad Boys for Life, dropped in theatres after a 17 year delay after the second one. Stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence came back, mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer came back, but original director Michael Bay did not. Instead, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, known for acclaimed Belgian crime thrillers like Black, made their Hollywood feature film debut on the threequel. And their debut went swimmingly, earning serious bank at the box office and positive notices from critics. Surely, the world is El Arbi and Fallah’s oyster. What’s next for the duo? Could it be… Beverly Hills Cop 4?
The duo was rumored to be attached to the long-gestating film, including a return to Axel Foley from superstar Eddie Murphy, currently at Netflix. So when Collider’s own Steve Weintraub got a chance to chat with El Arbi and Fallah, he simply had to ask about a Beverly Hills Cop 4 update. And, well, the directors would love it as much as anyone else! “Everybody asks us this question, which is good, because we really want to do that!” responded El Arbi enthusiastically. “That would be an honor.” The duo continued:
Fallah: I think Jerry [Bruckheimer] asked us to be available.
El Arbi: Jerry said it in a press conference in Germany, like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ So I’m like, ‘Okay!’”
Fallah: We ready, we ready.
El Arbi: Because it is our first Hollywood movie, we gotta wait until it comes out to know what the reaction is. And I think that Jerry’s waiting just for that, God willing, it becomes a success, and then he has momentum, and then it’s jump right at it. And we met Eddie Murphy twice and he seems to like us.
Fallah: We were doing the reshoots at Tyler Perry’s studio, and we were shooting Bad Boys, and Eddie was there shooting Coming 2 America.
El Arbi: So we said, ‘We gotta make this happen, we gotta make this moment happen.’ Will, Martin, Wesley Snipes was there too, and Eddie Murphy.
Fallah: We said, ‘Come on everybody, let’s take this fucking epic picture!’
El Arbi: We said, ‘This is gonna be a great social media moment, so let’s do that.’
If you haven’t seen the picture they’re talking about, it is truly a work of art, a stirring tribute to the living legends therein. And it makes sense, given their ability to deliver striking, entertaining images, that El Arbi and Fallah directed that, too! Here’s hoping they get to give us their Beverly Hills Cop 4 take soon — or, follow whatever muse strikes them next.
For more from the directing duo, here’s their take on the mid-credits scene, and that insane cameo. Plus: Bad Boys 4 is coming. You ready?
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Image via Paramount
