Michael Bay: Sony ‘had no faith’ in ‘Bad Boys,’ said ‘two black actors don’t sell overseas’

Los Angeles, April 13 : Filmmaker Michael Bays Bad Boys movies are one of his signature action franchises, but the director said the studio did not have faith in the project because of a misguided belief that Black actors dont attract international audiences.Sony Pictures was behind Bad Boys, which paired Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as two Miami narcotics detectives.

The action movie opened in 1995."Sony didnt believe in the movie, because two Black actors dont sell overseas," Bay recently told Entertainment Weekly, reports Variety.

"They had no faith in it.I was watching James Camerons True Lies and Im like, Oh, my God, this guy has so much money.I have only $9 million.And they shut me down, literally.They shut the power off.""Thats how rude they were on this movie.Luckily I had 500 days of film set experience doing videos, commercials, working with some of the most famous athletes in the world, and thats where you really truly know how to deal with a*******.

"According to Variety, Bay said it was Sonys resistance to giving him greater resources on the film that led him to come up with the movies most iconic shot, a 360-degree spin around Smith and Lawrences characters.Bay spontaneously came up with the shot while driving a van with his line producer.

"Im like, This is going to be the trailer shot.For some reason, I just came up with this shot as were driving," Bay said.

"And I said, Wheres the circle trolley? Get the circle trolley.And we made this round move and you guys rise up and it became a very famous shot.

People try to imitate it, but it was a seminal moment.Bad Boys literally changed the game on Black actors.

Its the first movie that really travelled overseas."Bad Boys opened in April 1995 and grossed $141 million worldwide.

The action movie was released a year before Smiths star power exploded with Independence Day, but not even the success of Bad Boys could convince the studio behind Independence Day that Smith had appeal overseas.Independence Day director Roland Emmerich revealed in July 2021 the studio originally rejected Smith for the lead role over claims that casting a Black actor would kill the foreign box office.

Independence Days $817 million worldwide gross proved otherwise.Bay would reunite Smith and Lawrence in 2003 for Bad Boys II, which earned $273 million at the worldwide box office.

third movie, Bad Boys for Life opened in January 2020 ahead of the pandemic and earned $426 million worldwide.dc/svn/ #Michael #Sony #black #actors #dont #James #Los Angeles #Miami #Miami #Trailer.