Entertainment Movies Will Smith Admits He 'Wasn't Happy with the 'Men in Black' Sequel' — But Doesn't Specify Which One Will Smith starred in two sequels for Men in Black — one in 2002 and one in 2012 By Ale Russian Ale Russian Ale Russian is a contributing writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2023. Her work has appeared in Women's World, First For Women, Biography.com and the Chicago Sun-Times. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 10, 2020 11:52AM EST Will Smith was not a fan of one of the Men in Black sequels. After striking gold with the original alien-fighting movie in 1997, Smith and costar Tommy Lee Jones returned for sequels in 2002 and 2012. But Smith, 51, admitted Thursday in an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that he was disappointed by one of those follow-ups, though he failed to name which one. “You know, I had fumbled a couple of my last sequels,” Smith said. “You know, I wasn’t happy with the Men in Black sequel.” Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Are Back Together in First Bad Boys for Life Trailer The revelation came after Smith explained why it had taken so long to come back for the third Bad Boys movie after the sequel came out in in 2003, seven years after the original hit theaters in 1995. “What we tried to do, that was really critical and important to me, is not try to just do the old movies again,” Smith explained. “It was, like, you had to take into consideration the time, had to take into consideration how the characters would have grown. And the reason it took so long is because I didn’t want to make it as a cash grab. You know, ‘Hey, everybody loves sequels, let’s just do a sequel.’” Columbia/Everett But now that they finished shooting the movie, which reunites him with Martin Lawrence, Smith said the wait was worth it. “It’s fantastic. Y’all going to love it,” teased Smith. “I say that a lot I’m going to keep it real. Sometimes I say y’all are gonna love it, and y’all not gonna love it. You know, ’cause sometimes I’ve seen it, and I know y’all not gonna love it, but it’s an expensive movie. But this time, this movie is out of here, it is so good.” A trailer for the film revealed the years haven’t changed the banter and relationship between playboy Mike Lowrey (Smith) and family man Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), who work together “one last time” when a revenge-seeking bad guy comes looking for them. Also thrown into the mix is a new team of young cops, played by Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), and Charles Melton (Riverdale). Bad Boys for Life hits theaters Jan. 17, 2020.