The directors of Bad Boys For Life, Adil El Arbi, and Bilall Fallah revealed That the Movie almost had a darkly tragic alternate ending. The third installment in the buddy cop franchise had enormous success at the box office, reeling in $419 million may be becoming the highest-grossing film of 2020. The film was widely praised by critics and audiences alike, most atmosphere Bad Boys 3 was much better than anticipated, even the franchise’s finest entrance. Obviously, because of the film’s financial success, Bad Boys 4 was green-lit, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirming the script is in the works.
The franchise began in 1995, starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as friends, who protect a witness to a murder while exploring a case of rebellion out of their precinct and police detectives. Audiences adored Bad Boys, along with the movie grossed an astonishing $141 million internationally from an estimated price of $19 million. Bad Boys 2 hit theaters almost ten years later in 2003, the film reuniting audiences together with the two detectives as they explore the flow of drugs into Florida from a Cuban drug cartel. Both movies had been helmed by Transformers director Michael Bay, who handed the franchise around to Arbi and Fallah for Bad Boys For Life.
Talking to Digital Spy, the directors revealed they almost gave Bad Boys For Life a darkly tragic alternative ending. The directors shot endings for the film, one being a version in Smith’s Mike Lowrey and which Isabel attempts to kill herself. When discussing that variant, El Arbi stated, “When she sees that all is lost, she would like to jump into the fire willingly, and she wants to shoot Mike Lowrey along with her. Because, you know, she thinks the child is dead, so let us all die together.” He goes on to state, “That was a version that was fairly epic and fairly Greek tragedy. It was too much, possibly [but] we’ll never know.”
Bad Boys For Life wasn’t only well-received from the franchise’s fans but also provided several Easter eggs to the first movies. The movie had a litany of appearances. The sequel also demonstrated to have considerable stakes, killing off franchise favorite character Captain Howard, played by Joe Pantoliano. Bad Boys For Life also contained a shocking twist which tied into Mike’s past, setting itself up for a sequel and a possible spinoff franchise in the process.