EXCLUSIVE: After the success of Bad Boys: Ride or DieWill Smith is aiming for a major reunion with the director who helped him create the film Bad boys franchise almost 30 years ago. Although a deal has not yet been officially finalized, sources tell Deadline that Michael Bay is in final negotiations to direct the Netflix action film Fast and easyin which Smith will star. Sources add that while no official release date has been announced, the film is likely to be the next project for both stars.

Deadline recently broke the news that Smith would be exiting the thriller sugar bandits, what his next project might be; After parting ways with that film, the town was excited to see what Smith would do next.

Fast and easy follows a man who wakes up in Tijuana with no memories. As he reconstructs his past, he learns that he has led two lives: one as a crime boss and the other as an undercover CIA agent. The screenplay was written by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chris Bremner and Eric Pearson.

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch for 87North will produce the film alongside Smith, with Jon Mone and Ryan Shimazaki, co-president and head of motion pictures at Westbrook Studios, in negotiations for Westbrook and James Lassiter to produce. Westbrook was also a producer on Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

Robert Simonds and Noah Fogelson will executive produce for STXfilms. Barry Waldman will also executive produce.

Fast and easy is something Smith has been developing for some time and after the release of Bad Boys: Ride or Diewhich grossed $400 million at the global box office, several Smith-related projects had gained traction. The project is the kind of big-event movie that Netflix is ​​still trying to prioritize, and the idea of ​​Smith and Bay reuniting was just too hard for everyone involved to pass up.

The ties between Bay and Smith date back to 1995 Bad boyswhich Bay Smith directed and starred in and both essentially became movie stars: Smith would become one of the most bankable stars of the next few decades, while Bay would become the director of every major filmmaker. He eventually took over Transformers franchise and directed the first five films in the series.

After teamwork for Bad Boys II In 2003, Smith and Bay stayed in touch to discuss what their next team might look like.

Bay previously directed the action thriller in 2019 6 Underground for Netflix, which delivered strong results. His thriller 2022 Ambulance is one of the most played action films on the streamer. He is represented by Range Media Partners.