The reunion of two of Hollywood’s biggest egos will have to wait, as Michael Bay and Will Smith have officially parted ways on the new Netflix film, Fast and Loose. Bay was set to direct the new action comedy that stars Smith, which would have been a Bad Boys reunion so to speak, as Bay directed the Fresh Prince in the first two movies in the franchise, but opted out of having anything to do with the two most recent films other than appearing in a brief cameo.
Per Deadline, the split comes after “creative differences” led to Bay’s departure from the movie, meaning Netflix is now on the hunt for a new director for Fast and Loose, which is slated to begin production in October. Smith is still on board to star in the flick, which is penned by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chris Bremner and Eric Pearson.
Word has it that Smith wanted to lean into the film’s more comedic elements, while Bay, of course, wanted to put the emphasis on the action. Things finally came to a head on Wednesday, as the director realized life’s too short to argue, and he said farewell to the project. There’s no word yet on whether Netflix has anyone else in mind, nor have there been any additional casting announcements. There’s also no telling if Bay’s departure will throw the production off its schedule, or if it will manage to keep its October start date.
What Is ‘Fast and Loose’ About?
Sony Pictures
Produced by Smith’s production company Westbrook Studios in conjunction with 87 North, Fast and Loose stars Smith as a man left for dead who wakes up in Tijuana with a severe case of memory loss. As he starts to piece together the clues to his identity, he realizes he’s been living a double life – one as a powerful crime lord, and the other as an undercover CIA operative. Talk about a conflict of interest, right?
No stranger to action comedies, the film sounds right up Smith’s alley, as he’s managed to find success with the genre over the years thanks to not only the Bad Boys franchise, but movies like Suicide Squad, the Men In Black series, and Bright (we don’t care what critics say, that one was great). Hopefully a new director can be found that will be able to balance Smith’s need for comedy with a nice helping of action to make Fast and Loose everything it can be, because, honestly, it sounds like a pretty good premise.
As for Bay, he’ll be just fine. In addition to eyeballing a return to the Transformers franchise at Paramount, he’s also got a live-action version of the hit Sega arcade video game OutRun in the works with Sydney Sweeney set to star.
We’ll have more news on Fast and Loose as it becomes available, but in the meantime, if you want to relive all the fun of Bay and Smith’s first collaboration together, 1995’s Bad Boys is currently available to rent or purchase on all VOD platforms.
Release Date
1996 – 1995
Network
BBC One
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Alex Norton
Malky ‘Tissue’ Mulhernen
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Freddie Boardley
Fraser Hood
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