Will Smith, Martin Lawrence franchise film 'Bad Boys 4' to open 1 week earlier

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Sony Pictures announced Monday that the fourth Bad Boys movie will open one week earlier. The Untitled Bad Boys Sequel now opens June 7.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announced last February that the fourth film was a go. It would be the first new film starring Smith greenlit after the 2022 Academy Awards, during which he slapped Chris Rock on stage.

Smith already had filmed Emancipation which would be released in December 2022.

The fourth Bad Boys began filming in Atlanta, Ga., in April but shut down when the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike in July. Sony postponed the film's release to June 14.

In 1995, Bad Boys was the first movie hit for both stars, coming near the end of their sitcoms Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin. The franchise stars Smith and Lawrence as Miami police officers.

They reunited for 2003's Bad Boys II and 2019's Bad Boys for Life.