Sony isn't messing around or wasting any time to get Bad Boys 4 made. Bad Boys for Life just hit theaters today and the studio has brought Chris Bremner on board to pen the script for the next installment. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are believed to be attached to the upcoming sequel, which shouldn't take as long as the last installment to come together. So far, the response has been positive to the latest movie, though we'll have a better idea in the coming weeks and months.

Bad Boys 2 hit theaters in 2003, so it was a bit of a shock to learn that Bad Boys for Life was even going to happen at all. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were asked about the sequel for over a decade while it remained in development hell. When asked about the movie again in 2018, Lawrence was confident that it would never happen. However, shortly after that interview, Sony greenlit Bad Boys for Life, reuniting Will Smith and Martin Lawrence on the big screen.

In order to avoid another 17 year break between movies, Sony is already getting Bad Boys 4 ready to go. Without going into spoiler territory, Bad Boys for Life does hint that a sequel is possible in a pretty intriguing way, which you can learn about in theaters this weekend. This isn't the first time that a fourth installment has been talked about. Back in 2015 when Bad Boys for Life was in its infancy, the other movie was announced too. However, that was still a long way from happening and a lot of changes went on behind-the-scenes to get to where we are today.

Joe Carnahan was originally on board to write Bad Boys for Life and is credited, though Chris Bremner gets top billing in the credits. For now, it looks like only Bremner is on board for Bad Boys 4, though that could obviously change in the next few years. Once the script is written, we could easily see production begin as early as next year with the sequel hitting theaters by 2022, if everything works out behind-the-scenes. While there is plenty of "one last time" talk in the latest installment, we might see the duo back for at least one more time.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith clearly enjoy working with each other, so it should be no problem getting them back on board for Bad Boys 4. While the sequel is in development, there is no guarantee that it will actually happen. The box office will certainly come into play as we watch Bad Boys for Life open in theaters this weekend. So far, the numbers are looking good with a solid $7 million in Thursday night preview screenings. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to announce the Bad Boys 4 news.