The 'Bad Boys' movie franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence revealed a magnetic chemistry between the two stars of the incredibly successful buddy cop franchise when it was released in 1995. The trailer for the upcoming fourth installment, Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is here and we've compiled 5 little known facts about the enduring franchise.

1. Arsenio Hall Turned Down A Leading Role

When casting began for Bad Boys in the mid 1990's, Will Smith's only major movie role was in the indie film Six Degrees of Separation. Late night talk show host Arsenio Hall was the first choice to portray detective Mike Lowrey, which he turned down. Will Smith made the character iconic, and Hall told The Hollywood Reporter that he later regretted the decision. "You look back and say it wasn't a bad decision because I'm happy with my life," he explained. "I'm a daddy or whatever. But then you realize, that's not where I'm supposed to be. One day you really miss it."

2. Sony Didn't Believe That 2 Black Stars Would Sell Overseas

"Sony didn't believe in the movie because they said that two Black actors wouldn't sell overseas," director Michael Bay told Entertainment Weekly. "They had no faith in it." As hard as it is to imagine in retrospect, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson had SNL alumni Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz in mind for the film, which was originally titled Bulletproof Hearts.

3. Why It Took 8 Years For Bad Boys II

2003's Bad Boys II was released in 2003. Martin Lawrence revealed to ABC News that the majority of Bad Boys was improvised, and all parties involved felt the need for a stronger script. "To get us in a room and all agree on the same script was not easy, because if I'm ready and Will is out of the country, it is just hard to get together," he said.

"And we didn't find a script that we liked so nobody wanted to do it." In the first film we pretty much ad-libbed every scene," Smith added. "We didn't want to do that on this one. So what we did is, we had probably three weeks of rehearsals prior to the film where we just had a writer there. So we had all of our ad-libbing ahead of time."

4. Michael Bay's Mother Disapproved of the Amount of Profanity

Director Michael Bay's mother is directly responsible for the amount of profanity (or lack of) in the original film. According to Variety, Bay's mother Harriet was so concerned with the amount of profanity when he screened the opening scene for her, that he reedited it, removing some of the curses.

5. Will Smith Credits Michael Bay With His Movie Stardom

After Bad Boys, Will Smith starred in blockbusters such as Men In Black and Independence Day. Smith credits director Michael Bay with his movie stardom. "Michael Bay was shooting this scene, and I wanted to have my shirt on," Will explained on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2020. "And Michael was like, 'Dude, I'm gonna make you a friggin' movie star! Take your shirt off."