The original debuted almost 30 years ago, and even with a first-time director, two untested stars at the box office and a struggle to finish the script, nothing could stop the film’s success. After several successful films in which producing partners Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer began developing a buddy cop script from George Gallo (Leads) in 2013, Arsenio Hall spoke of his regrets at turning down Smith’s part: ” Sometimes I make bad choices.)
At the time, Smith and Lawrence were starring on sitcoms and , respectively, and neither had directed a studio film. Directing his feature was Michael Bay, known for music videos and commercials. After examining the story, the film focused on two Miami detectives searching for stolen heroin while protecting a witness (Tea Leoni). But the script still needed work when executive producer Lucas Foster called screenwriter Doug Richardson () and asked to meet with him that same day. The clock was ticking, as both Smith and Lawrence were on short breaks from their TV duties. Fortunately, the stars were more than game to help. “I’ll give them an idea, and it’ll be like a writers’ room,” Richardson explains of the collaborative, improvisational effort. “It was magical from the beginning.”
Columbia released on April 7, 1995 and grossed $65 million ($135 million today). Three sequels followed, the latest of which, directed by Adil and Bilal, hits theaters on June 7. As for what makes the franchise so good, Richardson goes back to an opening note he got from Simpson, who died in 1996: “He said, ‘A buddy movie is a love story. These people love each other.’ It made things a lot better for me.”
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