Last summer we learned that Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) was interested in directing Bad Boys 3, which Sony has scheduled for a 2017 release. He was never officially confirmed for the job, but these new pre-visualization images he shared on Twitter are all the confirmation you need that Carnahan is behind the wheel on the long-developing sequel.

While Michael Bay remains preoccupied with the Transformers franchise, Carnahan has taken over Bad Boys, working from a script by Safe House writer David Guggenheim. Carnahan shared two pre-vis images to Twitter, featuring a motorcycle sequence and an explosion, and basically offering the first official confirmation of his involvement:

Bad Boys 3 has been in development for years, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence both game to return for the sequel. More recently, Smith appeared on BBC 1 (via The Verge), where he revealed that he’s recently met with Lawrence to discuss the sequel and they’re both “definitely” doing it:

I saw Martin a few weeks ago. I haven’t seen him for about two years. We just looked at each other. We hugged. In that moment, we knew we were making another ‘Bad Boys.’ We’re definitely doing another one.

It’s unclear when filming will begin, as Smith just wrapped Suicide Squad and is heading into production on Collateral Beauty, which is set to hit theaters later this year. Sony had originally scheduled a 2017 release for Bad Boys 3, but it seems like that date may get pushed back (again).

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