FIl-Am Vanessa Hudgens returning with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for 'Bad Boys 4'

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-American actress Vanessa Hudgens will reprising her role of weapons expert Kelly in a fourth "Bad Boys" movie alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence once again.

The actors had previously revealed a "Bad Boys 4" was entering production, with "Bad Boys For Life" directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to helm the project.

The directors found even more success as executive producers and directors for the pilot and finale of Marvel's "Ms. Marvel" series starring Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan which was well-received by critics and fans.

Hudgens' character was introduced in the aforementioned third "Bad Boys" movie — released 17 years after "Bad Boys II" — where Smith's Mike Lowrey and Lawrence's Marcus Burnett have to team up with younger tech-savvy professionals while dealing with family issues of varying degrees.

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The last film ended with Lowrey and Burnett taking charge of the Advanced Miami Metro Operations and bonding over Burnett's grandchild, though a post-credits scene teased Lowrey offering his imprisoned long-lost Armando for a chance at redemption.

"Bad Boys For Life" was one of the last movies released in theaters before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, making it by default one of the biggest films of 2022 with a global box office return of $840.7 million (P46.2 billion).

This fourth "Bad Boys" movie will likely be Smith's biggest project since his infamous slap at the 2022 Academy Awards which resulted in a 10-year ban from Oscars-related events; last year he starred in Antoine Fuqua's "Emancipation."

Hudgens meanwhile recently got engaged to professional baseball player Cole Tucker, whom she had met over Zoom and has since attended Cole's Major League Baseball games while Cole has frequented as Vanessa's plus-one to events.

The actress, who co-hosted the last two Academy Awards pre-shows, is best known for her role in the "High School Musical" franchise and will next be seen in the upcoming films "Downtown Owl" and "French Girl" as well as a voice role in "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas."

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