When Michael Bay directed Bad Boys in 1995, it was the first movie of his directorial career. It was also one of his lowest-budgeted productions, only costing $23 million, while making $141.4 million at the box office, catapulting Bay into superstardom. Bay’s next movie was The Rock, which had a $75 million budget, and costs increased as he grew more successful. That led Bay back to Bad Boys II, which had a $130 million budget, and he eventually moved on to the Transformers movies, which eclipsed $200 million each.

However, while fans clamored for a third movie, and even lead actor Will Smith wanted to return, Michael Bay never made Bad Boys 3. It took 17 years before the third movie in the series arrived, and it was missing Bay from the director’s chair. Bay went on to direct five Transformers movies, and in 2025, he released his first documentary, We Are Storror, about the men who choreographed Bay’s 7 Underground, but it left many fans wondering why he didn’t return to the franchise that made him a star.

Michael Bay Already Stepped Away From The Bad Boys Franchise Due To Budget Restraints

Michael Bay Said He & Will Smith Were Paid Too Much

Bad Boys 2 came out in 2003, and it took 17 years before Bad Boys 3 was released in 2020. This is despite Will Smith wanting to make the movie as early as 2008, reportedly “begging” Michael Bay to direct it when they met up at the MTV Movie Awards that year (via Digital Spy). However, Smith admitted why he couldn’t convince Bay to make the movie:

“We need Bad Boys 3. I was just watching Bad Boys 2 with my son and I told him you can’t open a movie better. That’s the best movie opening ever! [But] Michael is too expensive now, he’s way too expensive.”

Bad Boys 2 made $273 million on a $130 million budget. Making the movie on a higher budget wasn’t likely since the studio needed to make a profit. In an interview with Hollyscoop, Michael Bay said, “We talk about it, but we all make too much money,” referring to him and Will Smith. Ironically, Bay began making his Transformers franchise in 2007, and those budgets ballooned to well over $200 million, which worked for blockbusters like those but not for buddy cop action movies like Bad Boys.

Bad Boys 3’s Box Office Success Meant Bringing Back Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah Made Sense

Bad Boys 3 Was More Profitable Than Michael Bay’s Second Movie

While it took 17 years, Bad Boys returned in 2020 with Will Smith (Mike) and Martin Lawrence (Marcus) returning, but Michael Bay was no longer on board as a director. Instead, Sony Pictures hired Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to direct Bad Boys for Life. The duo had previously directed three smaller films together, and Bad Boys for Life offered them their biggest opportunity in Hollywood. When looking at the third movie, the budget was only $90 million, $40 million less than Bad Boys II, and it made $426.5 million, over $150 million more than the previous movie.

That made the third Bad Boys movie highly profitable, making the duo’s return to Bad Boys 4 an easy decision. Bad Boys: Ride or Die came much quicker, only taking four years to reach theaters. It had a slightly higher budget of $100 million but still broke $400 million worldwide and proved that Michael Bay wasn’t needed behind the camera to ensure the franchise’s success.

Michael Bay Is Still Connected To Bad Boys 3 & 4

Michael Bay Had Cameos As Different Characters In Each Movie

Even though Michael Bay stepped away from the Bad Boys franchise as its director after two movies, he remains connected in another way. Bay makes a cameo in Bad Boys for Life as the emcee at Marcus’s daughter Megan’s wedding to Reggie. He has lines in the movie as he introduces Mike to come up to make a speech at the wedding. Bay also returns in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, where he takes on a different cameo role as he drives by in a Porsche and tells Mike and Marus to get out of the road.