AceShowbiz - "Bad Boys 3" is slowly coming together after years of development. The long-gestating project reportedly could start production in early 2019, after a new draft of a script has got approval from the producers. The new installment of the buddy cop comedy franchise is eying a 2020 release on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, though Sony has not made any official announcement regarding the movie development.

According to Variety, Will Smith is on board to reprise his role as Detective Mike Lowrey, while Martin Lawrence is still negotiating his deal to return as Detective Marcus Burnett. Chris Bremner ("The Wedding Ringer") wrote the latest draft of the script. Joe Carnahan was at one point attached to direct, but Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah ("Snowfall") are now tapped to take the responsibility.

Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch recently said of "Bad Boys 3", which is known as "Bad Boys for Life", "If we're going to make another 'Bad Boys' after 15 years, it's got to be next-level great." He went on gushing about his team, "These guys are amazing. They loved the first movies, but they're not afraid to change things up."

Panitch also said that it has always been their intention to make another "Bad Boys" movie with the original key actors, but noted that they would use another way to revitalize the franchise, just like what they recently did with 2017's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle".

The adventure movie has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart in the leads, taking over the part which was previously trusted to the late comedian Robin Williams in 1995's "Jumanji". Introducing a new twist with video game elements, "Welcome to the Jungle" was a major success with over $962 million gross worldwide. It has become the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the 42nd-highest-grossing film of all time.