This past weekend saw the release of Bad Boys For Life, arriving nearly two decades after its predecessor. However, if you have access to the Spectrum channel, you’ve had the opportunity to return to this action-packed world through the series L.A.’s Finest, which features Gabriel Union reprising her role of Sydney “Syd” Burnett, the sister of Martin Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett, alongside Jessica Alba’s Nancy McKenna.
While Gabrielle Union played Syd in the first two Bad Boys movies and, like her brother, works in law enforcement, she did not appear in Bad Boys For Life, and is only briefly mentioned. While there were discussions about arranging an L.A.’s Finest crossover within Bad Boys For Life, it ultimately didn’t work out due to scheduling issues. According to Katherine Pope, the head of originals for Spectrum Originals:
There were talks, because Jerry Bruckheimer and Doug Belgrad, who produce the movie, also produce L.A.’s Finest. It honestly was logistics. When we picked up L.A.’s Finest, Bad Boys was already, I think, it was days away from shooting. So it was all so last minute and we tried to make it work and just logistically we couldn’t.
It’s hard enough planning out a movie shoot on its own, particularly one that’s for a blockbuster production, But throw in trying to include mini-crossover with a series that wasn’t even in full swing yet, and it’s no wonder things didn’t work out. L.A.’s Finest ended up premiering on May 13 of last year and concluding its first season on June 17. It’s already been renewed for Season 2, which will premiere later this year.
But it’s more than just scheduling that prevented a Bad Boys For Life/L.A.’s Finest crossover. The threequel’s directors, Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, said there just wasn’t any way to fit Syd into the story without it feeling “bloated.” As they put it to The Wrap:
There was some talk about it, but the thing is, at the end of the day the story was so tight basically that there was no real room for it [that storyline]. We probably would have ended up having to cut it, and we didn’t want to do that. So, eventually we just decided to focus on the main story.
Given that Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett are still operating in Miami during Bad Boys For Life, while Syd Burnett and Nancy McKenna are, as the TV show’s title plainly lays out, in Los Angeles, that further complicates these characters crossing paths. All this being said, just because a crossover didn’t work out this time doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen in the future.
It was reported last week that Bad Boys 4 is in the works, so Katherine Pope is hoping there’s better luck on the crossover front with that project. National Treasure 3’s Chris Bremner is writing the script, but it remains to be seen when the next Bad Boys movie comes out, as well as if Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi will direct again or have to bow out. However things play out, at least this time planning for a potential crossover can go a little more seamlessly.
We here at CinemaBlend will be sure to let you know about any major Bad Boys-related news that comes in. Keep track of what’s hitting theaters later this year with our 2020 release schedule.
