Martin Lawrence opens up about ‘Bad Boys For Life’ delays
Martin Lawrence says Will Smith refused to do the film until the script was right.
Martin Lawrence is opening up about why it took so long for Bad Boys For Life to hit theaters. After numerous delays, the film is scheduled to be released this month in theaters.
In a new interview with GQ, Lawrence finally spoke about what took so long for the film to be released. He says Will Smith refused to do the movie unless the script was right.
He said, “The script wasn’t right. And Will, to his credit, refused to do the movie until the script was right. It wouldn’t have been a good movie. We didn’t want that. We wanted to do a sequel where people would go, ‘Oh, man, that’s what I’m talking about. It just gets better.’”
He then spoke on how he felt when people would ask him about the film’s release before he even knew when it would be released. He said, “I don’t really dwell on that now. But I mean, probably at that time, I was like, ‘Oh, man.’ People were asking me, and I had no answer for them. I was asking myself that question. I was asking other people, “When are we going to do it?” I was asking [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer, ‘When are we going to do this movie?’”
Lawrence joked about how long the movie was taking to be released in his standup special, “Doin’ Time.” He joked, if they don’t make Bad Boys soon, they’re going to have to call it Sad Boys.
He said, “If you see the movie, I’m a little heavier in the movie, so you know, it’s true. I wanted to be in shape enough to get through it and be able to deliver. I have no excuses, but I had hurt my back in a New Year’s Eve show right before we did Bad Boys, so I couldn’t work out or anything for the whole movie. All I could do is eat. [Laughs] That was it. So I’m glad we had the stuntmen, because they do a great job.”
The film hits theaters January 17. The film is projected to do very well at the box office, expecting to bring in between $40 and $45 million leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 20).