Martin Lawrence: Oscars Slap Not Derailing 'Bad Boys 4'

Martin Lawrence dismissed speculation that "Bad Boys 4" was canceled after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars this year.

Speaking with Ebony magazine, Lawrence said he was confident that the fourth installment of the buddy cop action-comedy franchise will go ahead as planned despite the altercation, which occurred after Rock cracked a joke about Smith's wife and her closely cropped head.

Jada Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, a chronic condition that can cause hair loss. 

"We got one more, at least," Lawrence told Ebony, implying that "Bad Boys for Life" will get a follow-up.

The original "Bad Boys" film, which saw Lawrence and Smith team up in their respective roles as Detective Sgt. Marcus Miles Burnett and Detective Sergeant Mike Lowrey, was launched in 1995. The movie proved to be a commercial success.

"It was big," Lawrence said of the launch of the franchise. "For us to come together and prove that we can deliver, and we can pull people into the box office — that two Black stars, two sitcom stars, could make money at the box office [was huge]. I didn't go to college, so I felt TV was my college years. I felt with movies, I had graduated; it was just different."

Two sequels ensued and a fourth film has been in the works, although there have been reports that it ground to a halt after the Oscars ordeal. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Leitch was to direct the film but, a week before the Oscars ceremony, he left the project. A new director was sought but sources said Netflix ultimately put the project on the back burner after the incident. 

Elsewhere in the report, it was revealed that Smith had received 40 pages of the script before the the Oscars, but another insider with knowledge of the situation also told THR that the film was put on hold for the foreseeable future. 

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