Vanessa Hudgens has confirmed she’s joined the cast of ‘Bad Boys for Life’.
The 30-year-old actress – who is best known for portraying Gabriella Montez in the ‘High School Musical’ film series – is set to join Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the long-awaited third instalment of the much-loved thriller/mystery franchise.
Sharing a screenshot of Variety’s article reporting that she, ‘Riverdale’ star Charles Melton and ‘Vikings’ actor Alexander Ludwig have been cast in the film on her Instagram Story, Vanessa wrote: "Stoked!!!!"
The trio will be part of a special police squad in Miami that clashes with Will and Martin’s respective alter egos, Detectives Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett.
The duo both starred in the 1995 film ‘Bad Boys; and its 2003 sequel ‘Bad Boys II’.
Confirming that they had reunited and are set to reprise their roles, Martin took to Instagram to post a picture of himself next to 50-year-old Will and said the third movie was now "official".
He wrote: "It’s official. Bad Boys for Life. #teammartymar #badboysforlife @willsmith #weback (sic)"
For Martin, the return marks the first time he’s been in a movie since 2011’s ‘Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son’, and the first time he’s acted at all since appearing in the 2014 TV series ‘Partners’.
‘Bad Boys for Life’ has been discussed for years and suffered several false dawns, largely due to Will’s hectic schedule, but in October, it was reported that Sony Pictures were on the cusp of giving the movie the green light.
Production is set to begin in early 2019, with the film having been handed a tentative release date of January 2020.
Will previously revealed he was certain that he and Martin would be reuniting for the third ‘Bad Boys’ movie.
Speaking in 2016, the Hollywood star shared: "I saw Martin a few weeks ago.
"I haven’t seen him for about two years. We just looked at each other. We hugged. In that moment, we knew we were making another ‘Bad Boys.’ We’re definitely doing another one."