Martin Lawrence isn’t worried about Will Smith’s Oscar slap stopping the Bad Boys franchise.
In a recent conversation with Ebony, Lawrence said that Smith’s incident with Chris Rock at the Oscars, in which he slapped the comedian over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, won’t prevent a fourth Bad Boys film from happening. “We got one more at least,” he said.
Lawrence talked about popular the film franchise has been, saying how "big" it was when the franchise debuted in 1995.
“For us to come together and prove that we can deliver, and we can pull people into the box office–that two Black stars, two sitcom stars, could make money at the box office [was huge],” he continued. “I didn’t go to college, so I felt TV was my college years. I felt with movies, I had graduated; it was just different.”
This lines up with what Bad Boys franchise director Michael Bay has said about working with Smith for future films.
“Absolutely, 100 percent,” he said to Entertainment Weekly during the promo run of Ambulance about possibly working with Smith again. “He’s a very even-keeled guy. Very even-keeled.”
He added, “I don’t really care [about the controversy].”
"Hollywood gets very self-absorbed," he said. "There are babies getting blown up in the Ukraine right now. We should be talking about that. I really don't care."
He also elaborated on his disgust with Hollywood’s overblown reaction to Smith’s actions, saying, “…First of all, it’s wrong to do, no matter what. Let’s just get that out there. But when people said, ‘Oh, he could have killed him.’ No, a slap is different. A punch? Yeah, you can kill someone. Will gave him a slap.”
Sony has also confirmed that the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise hasn't been stalled, contrary to prior reports. Sony Chairman Tom Rothman told the outlet that the report was "inaccurate."
“That movie’s been in development and still is. There weren’t any brakes to pump because the care wasn’t moving,” he said.
