Belgian film at the top of the American box office
The film "Bad Boys for Life", directed by Belgians Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, will finish as the highest grossing film in the United States. Both an action film and a comedy, this production, which marks a comeback for the duo Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, has already brought in 200 million dollars.
This is in fact the sequel to the police saga Bad Boys (1995) and Bad Boys II (2003), which was made 17 years ago and starred the two partners from the last film. In this new film, the son of a deceased gangster finds himself free following an ultra violent escape from a Mexican prison. He vows to avenge his father and take control of the city of Miami. Spectators are being blown away! The two Antwerp directors of Moroccan descent had a field day, with car chases, shoot-outs, explosions, night-time aerial shots of Miami and more.
The 2020 film marks a significant departure from previous productions by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah: Image in 2014, Black in 2015 and Patser in 2018, a trilogy about delinquency in Brussels. It was Black in particular that attracted the most attention, due to the violence it triggered on release. It tells the story of two gangs from the Brussels suburbs, the Black Bronx and the 1080s, who are fighting a merciless battle, and its cast is largely made up of young non-professional actors.
"Bad Boys for Life" is a million miles from their first films. Here, the young Flemish film-makers are at the helm of a real Hollywood money-making machine.