With Bad Boys 3, Charlie’s Angels, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black reboots, Sony leads Hollywood's revival frenzy

In Hollywood’s reboot frenzy, the movie industry continues to turn to old and popular franchises. The latest attempt is Bad Boys 3, which is about to be greenlit by Sony Pictures.

The Bad Boys movies featured Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, caught up in cases involving car chases and explosions. The first Bad Boys, released in 1995, helped launch Michael Bay as a director and Smith as an action star even though it was not a fire-stamped blockbuster — it grossed $66 million in North America and $141 million worldwide. The sequel, released in 2003 when Bay and Smith’s stars had risen, grossed $138 million in North America and $273 million worldwide.

Now, Variety reports a third installment of the high-octane Bad Boys franchise is close to being finalised. But Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch assures us, “If we’re going to make another Bad Boys after 15 years, it’s got to be next-level great.”

Bad Boys 3 is expected to hit theaters in January 2020 with Smith officially on board and Lawrence too having expressed interest in the sequel for several years now.

The first draft of the script has been penned by Chris Bremner with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah likely to direct the film.

In recent years, Hollywood has turned to gender-swaps as a ploy to refresh dusty movie properties. Ghostbusters and Ocean’s Eight were just the beginning.

Panitch opened up about the all-female spin-off of 21 Jump Street with 22 Jump Street writer Rodney Rothman set to write and direct the upcoming reboot. “We think that there’s something fun about keeping that irreverent spirit of Jump Street, but maybe having it be told through a female undercover cop point-of-view. We’ve had enough male buddy comedies. The script is really funny and has a freshness to it,” she said.

Sony had originally planned to combine the Men and Black and 21 Jump Street franchises, but have since shelved that idea.

Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth will replace Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the cast of the Men in Black spinoff.

Another big reboot from Sony is the Elizabeth Banks-directed Charlie’s Angels starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. Banks is directing, producing, co-writing and starring as Bosley in the new incarnation of the Angels saga.

Sony Pictures will release the new Charlie’s Angels in North American theaters in September 2019.

(With inputs from agencies)