Ever since "BadBoys 2" was released in 2003, there have been rumblings and rumors of a sequel. Just about 2 months ago, Sony Pictures released their film release schedule which indicated "Bad Boys 3" would release on Feb. 17, 2017. Now there is confirmation directly from franchise star Will Smith.

"Beats 1 Radio" host Zane Lowe recently had the actor-rapper in as a guest and mentioned that he heard "Bad Boys 3" was happening. This came right before the end of Smith's guest appearance on the show and right after the duo discussed Smith's experience with actor-singer Jared Leto in "Suicide Squad."

"There's a very, very, very strong possibility that you will be seeing a 'Bad Boys' within the next 12 to 16 months," Smith responded with a smile. Unfortunately, however, he did not reveal if he was indeed going to return to star in the film with co-lead Martin Lawrence or if he was simply going to produce the movie and have new stars take over.

The time frame that Smith gives falls right in line with the Feb. 17, 2017 release date, which is 16 months away from the date the "Beats 1 Radio" episode aired. As stated in a report from Screen Rant, the movie does have a chance of being pushed up to an earlier date if production occurs earlier and if the studios feel confident with the finished product.

At this point, however, there are no confirmations of a script or director for the project. "A-Team" and "The Grey" director Joe Carnahan was recently rumored to be in talks of directing the film instead of Michael Bay, although Carnahan stated via Twitter that he was shocked about the announcement just as much as everyone else.

However, Carnahan did point out that he was only shocked about the announcement but did explain that he wasn't saying it wasn't true, hinting that he may indeed be discussing with the studios about the possibility of helming the project in case Michael Bay won't return. 

Fans speculate that Bay won't be able to film "Bad Boys 3" and "Bad Boys 4" given that he is also rumored to be helming the fifth "Transformers" film.