Some very good news for Bad Boys fans. Joe Pantoliano will be back alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys for Life, which is really, actually, finally (probably) happening for real this time. The duo recently announced on Instagram that the long-awaited sequel is finally a go and they're looking to get production going early on in the new year. While a lot will have changed over the years, it looks like some things never change, as Captain Howard is going to be back in action.

According to a new report, Joe Pantoliano will reprise his role in Bad Boys for Life. There aren't any details on how Captain Howard will factor into the new movie, but that's tricky at this point. While there were reports that the movie would see Marcus and Mike having parted ways only to be brought back together for another mission, the studio hasn't released any plot details officially. Plus, the script has gone through many revisions over the years and a lot could have changed.

The current screenplay was penned by Peter Craig, who worked on Bad Boys 2, in addition to Joe Carnahan (The Grey) and Chris Bremmer, who doesn't have many writing credits to speak of. Michael Bay, unfortunately, won't be back in the director's chair for this one, as he's currently busy directing 6 Underground for Netflix, which stars Ryan Reynolds. Instead, up-and-coming duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are at the helm, with the legendary Jerry Bruckheimer back on board as a producer. At this point in time, it isn't clear if Bay will be producing as well, but it seems likely the studio would do what they could to get him involved in some capacity

For years, there has been a back and forth between Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and the studio in trying to get this movie off the ground. It's taken a very long time, and there have been several false starts along the way. However, recently, Smith and Lawrence posted a video to Instagram promising that Bad Boys 3 is finally happening. At this point, if it didn't actually go through, it would be a tremendous disappointment. But Smith has cleared some time in his busy schedule and Lawrence worked out what he needed to work out with the studio on the money front.

Production is expected to kick off in January for a several month shoot. With that, we should be hearing more news regarding casting in the near future and, if we're lucky, Sony will release an official synopsis once production gets underway. It's been a long time coming, but it's time for Marcus and Mike to get back together again. Bad Boys for Life is currently set to arrive in theaters on January 17, 2020. We'll be sure to keep you posted as more details on the project are made available. This news was first reported by Deadline.