A third Bad Boys movie has been in the ether, so to speak, for a number of years, but it finally materialized recently with Sony setting Smokin’ Aces and The Grey filmmaker Joe Carnahan to write and direct. The follow-up, titled Bad Boys for Life, will see Will Smith and Martin Lawrence returning to star, but thus far we haven’t heard much else in the way of details. So when Collider’s own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Carnahan for an exclusive interview, the conversation obviously turned to what fans can expect from Bad Boys 3.

Carnahan revealed that the script is currently undergoing a rewrite, and once that comes in and meets everyone’s approval, they’ll be going into prep “ASAP,” reiterating that Smith and Lawrence are definitely “in” for the project. As for what the story might entail, Carnahan said he’s not ignoring the time that has passed between Bad Boys 2 and this new film:

“We’re certainly not ignoring that, and that is a part of it. What happens 15 years on and where’s your life at now and what did you foresee yourself, it’s really rich material in that way. That part I’m really excited about, it’s a lot of exploring where are they now.”

The Stretch filmmaker said that for him, it wasn’t so much the previous two films that excited him about directing Bad Boys 3, but the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence:

“It’s a very grounded, as much as it can be, Miami narcotics/robbery/homicide cops [story], two lifelong friends, these things are all appealing to me. That and knowing and doing something that I thought would be interesting, that would be an interesting challenge. Because those other films are Michael Bay’s and if you’re gonna come in you really gotta take it, you really gotta own that franchise. I came at it from a screenwriter’s standpoint and wrote my own version of the story, which is always exciting and fun. That’s what it was, being able to, as a writer, put my own spin on that world, more than anything else.”

When it comes to the film’s Big Bad, Carnahan didn’t want to reveal too much, but he did tease that there will be multiple antagonists: