While fans still wait to see what happens with the long-gestatingBad Boysmovie sequel, producer Jerry Bruckheimer is bringing the franchise to the small screen, with aBad Boys Spin-Offseries. The series will focus on the Sydney “Syd” Burnett character, played by Gabrielle Union in the 2003 sequelBad Boys II, although there is no indication on whether or not the main franchise starsWill Smithand Martin Lawrence would return to reprise their roles as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. While the series doesn’t have a network home at this time, it is already being pitched to several different networks.
The untitledBad Boysspin-off is being written by Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, who currently serve as writers and producers on NBC’sThe Blacklist. The show comes just after it was announced that Gabrielle Union’s hit BET seriesBeing Mary Janewas coming to an end next year with a two-hour TV movie. In the 2003 movieBad Boys II, the Syd Burnett character was introduced as an undercover operative with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the sister of Martin Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett who was also engaged in a secret love affair with Marcus' partner, Mike Lowrey. It was never clear if the character was being eyed to return in the long-delayed movie sequel but even if that does happen now, it may not matter if this project makes it to series.
The impetus for thisspin-off seriesreportedly came from the company Primary Wave Entertainment, which manages Gabrielle Union, although no specific plot details were revealed. This will be the company’s first TV development season after hiring former NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin as President. Jeff Gaspin will serve as an executive producer on the project along with Jeff Morrone, Gabrielle Union’s manager. Sony Pictures Television is producing the series, the off-shoot of Sony Pictures, where theBad Boysmovie franchise hails from. This report claims that there are a number of companies interested in the project and it’s expected to land a “major commitment” from a network or streaming service soon.
Jerry Bruckheimer will executive produce the series alongside his Jerry Bruckheimer TV partners KristieAnne Reed and Jonathan Littman, alongside Doug Belgrad and his company 2.0 Entertainment. Doug Belgrad spent 25 years as an executive at Sony Pictures, and he was a creative executive on the firstBad Boysmovie, which made both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence household names. He is also set to co-finance theBad Boys 3movie sequel, which is still moving forward. Jerry Bruckheimer revealed last month that a new unidentified writer has been working on the movie, but there is no indication when it may move forward into production. It’s possible that this newTV series could start shootingbefore the movie.
If this TV spin-off does move forward to series, it would be the latest among many movies that have transitioned from the big screen to the small. We reported last month that a newUnderworld TV seriesis finally happening, with a newHeathersTV show debuting soon, with aBig Hero 6TV series also happening on Disney XD. The twoBad Boysmovies earned $414.7 million worldwide combined, although we’ll have to wait and see if this potential TV show can have the same kind of success.Deadlinebroke the news on this new spin-off series earlier today.
