MICHAEL BAY REUNITES WITH WILL SMITH FOR NETFLIX ACTION FILM FAST AND LOOSE - VORAKA

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN VORAKA

Article Published on 08 October 2024 by Kelley Rose | www.vorakamag.com

Michael Bay is in negotiations to direct Will Smith in the Netflix action film Fast and Loose. The storyline follows a crime boss who, after being attacked, suffers memory loss and slowly uncovers that he was living a double life as a CIA operative. The script was crafted by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chris Bremner, and Eric Pearson.

Fast and Loose had been under development even before the notorious incident at the 2022 Oscars, where Smith slapped Chris Rock. A week prior to the Academy Awards, it was reported that David Leitch had stepped away from the project to focus on The Fall Guy, an action-comedy featuring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, which Universal released in May.

The film is being produced by Leitch and Kelly McCormick of 87North, alongside Will Smith. Robert Simonds and Noah Fogelson serve as executive producers for STXfilms.

Bay previously directed Smith in the action-comedy Bad Boys (1995) and its sequel in 2003. Smith and Martin Lawrence recently reprised their roles in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the latest installment released by Sony in June. That film, which grossed over $400 million globally, played a key role in reestablishing Smith as a leading star after the Oscars controversy.

Following the release of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, it was reported that Smith was in talks to star in Sony's sci-fi movie Resistor, an adaptation of Daniel Suarez’s 2014 novel Influx, though a director had not yet been attached.

Smith's other recent notable films include Emancipation (2022) and King Richard (2021), the latter earning him his first Oscar.

Bay's latest directorial work was the 2022 Universal movie Ambulance, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He is also widely known for directing the Transformers franchise, and previously directed Netflix's action-packed 6 Underground, led by Ryan Reynolds, which was released in 2019.

Deadline was the first to break the news of Bay's potential role in directing Fast and Loose.