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‘Bad Boys’ Director Says Sony Didn’t Believe in Movie’s Success

Michael Bay, a famous director who is currently on tour for his most recent film Ambulance, has declared that Sony did not believe that Bad Boys would be successful in an overseas market.

In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, the film’s director revealed that Sony didn’t believe a movie about two black men would be able to sell internationally, so they included the panning shot from 1995’s The Jackal. Sony thought that a film about two black men wouldn’t be profitable overseas, according to the complaint.

“I’ll tell you how that shot came up in Bad Boys. Sony didn’t believe in the movie, because two Black actors don’t sell overseas. They had no faith in it. I was watching James Cameron’s True Lies and I’m 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. That’s how rude they were on this movie.”

What helped Bay the most was his own experience on film sets, where he had worked on films, commercials, and other projects and learned “how to deal with a–holes.” The director explained that the film’s iconic circular shot was a burst of inspiration.

“For some reason, I just came up with this shot as we’re driving. 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. It’s the first movie that really traveled overseas.”

Bay’s Bad Boys is a buddy cop action film with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the lead roles. The film earned $15 million during its premiere weekend and over $65 million worldwide. A sequel, titled Bad Boys II , was released in 2003, as well as a prequel called Bad Bous for Life in 2020.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza González star in the film “Ambulance,” which is set to premiere later this year.

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