Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Fallah (left) and El Arbi (right), 2018
BornAdil El Arbi
(1988-06-30) June 30, 1988 (age 36)
Edegem, Belgium
Bilall Fallah
(1986-01-04) January 4, 1986 (age 38)
Vilvoorde, Belgium
Alma materLUCA School of Arts, Brussels
Occupations
  • Film directors
  • screenwriters
  • film editors
Years active2010–present

Adil El Arbi (born June 30, 1988) and Bilall Fallah (born January 4, 1986) are Belgian film and television directors. The duo, collectively billed as Adil & Bilall, are known for writing and directing the feature films Image (2014), Black (2015), and Gangsta (2018), as well as directing both Bad Boys for Life (2020) and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), the third and fourth installments of the Bad Boys franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Career

[edit]

Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah met during their film studies at the Hogeschool voor Wetenschap en Kunsten in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium. During their studies, the first project that they directed was a short film named Broeders (2011), which was appreciated by critics; their later films, Black (2015) and Patser (2018), also received positive reception.[1]

They directed the first two episodes in the TV series Snowfall, which aired on July 5 and 12 in 2017,[citation needed] as well as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike's music video "When I Grow Up", which features American rapper Wiz Khalifa.[2]

The duo were attached to direct the fourth installment of the Beverly Hills Cop film series, in which Eddie Murphy was to reprise his role.[3][4] Later, in April 2022, it was announced that the duo would no longer direct the fourth Beverly Hills Cop film as previously intended.[5]

In 2022, the duo directed and executive produced episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Ms. Marvel for Disney+.[6]

Bad Boys franchise

[edit]
Main article: Bad Boys (franchise)

The duo are perhaps best known internationally for directing both Bad Boys for Life (2020) and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), the third and fourth installments of the Bad Boys franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.[7][8][9]

Bad Boys for Life was theatrically released in the United States on January 17, 2020, by Sony Pictures Releasing.[10] It became a worldwide box office hit, grossing $424.6 million internationally.[11] It became both the highest-grossing film in the Bad Boys franchise and the highest-grossing film released in January.[12]

Bad Boys: Ride or Die premiered at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on May 22, 2024, and went on to become a box office success worldwide as well,[13] grossing more than $200 million as of June 2024,[14] becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2024.[15]

Unreleased projects

[edit]

In February 2017, Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi were attached to direct the pilot episode of the WGN America series Scalped,[16] which filmed in New Mexico in early April,[17] but in November, after WGN screened it, they decided to pass on the series, and it has never been released.[18]

In May 2021, it was announced that the duo would direct a film featuring Batgirl for HBO Max.[19] In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery made the decision to write the completed Batgirl film off for tax purposes, leaving it unreleased.[20] With a reported $90 million budget, Batgirl is one of the highest budget movies in history to be produced but not released.[20]

Personal life

[edit]

Both men are of Moroccan descent.[21][22]

Filmography

[edit]

Short film

Year Title Directors Writers Editors
2011 Broeders Yes Adil El Arbi No
2016 Patient Zero No No Bilall Fallah
2017 Hashtag Yes Yes Yes

Feature film

Year Title Directors Writers Editors
2014 Image Yes Yes Yes
2015 Black Yes Yes Yes
2018 Gangsta Yes Yes Yes
2020 Bad Boys for Life Yes No No
2022 Rebel Yes Yes No
2024 Bad Boys: Ride or Die Yes No No

Television

Year Title Directors Writers Executive
Producers 		Notes
2012 Bergica Yes Yes No
2017 Snowfall Yes No No 2 episodes
2021 Soil Yes No No 2 episodes
2022 Ms. Marvel Yes No Yes 2 episodes

Unreleased

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "10 Directors to Watch: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah Bring Street Cred to Belgian Cinema". January 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ft. Wiz Khalifa - When I Grow Up (Official Music Video)". YouTube. June 22, 2018.
  3. ^ Guglielmi, Luca (January 15, 2017). "A New Beverly Hills Cop Film Is Going Into Production This Summer". All The Stuff You Care About. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' moves forward with Eddie Murphy". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 8, 2022). "'Beverly Hills Cop 4': Mark Molloy To Direct Next Installment For Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "'Ms. Marvel' Finds Directors in Pakistani Oscar Winner, 'Bad Boys for Life' Filmmakers (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. September 18, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "Production Begins on Bad Boys For Life". January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  8. ^ "Bad Boys for Life Begins Production, Will Smith Shares New Photo". MovieWeb. January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Jackson, Angelique (January 31, 2023). "Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Announce Fourth 'Bad Boys' Movie". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  10. ^ "Bad Boys For Life is in UK and Ireland cinemas from 17th January 2020". Filmoria.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Bad Boys For Life (2020) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Childress, Erik (February 2, 2020). "Weekend Box Office Results: Bad Boys for Life Becomes Biggest January Release Ever After $17.7 Million Weekend". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "$56M 'Bad Boys' box office opening boosts Will Smith's comeback". The Northern View. June 10, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Jackson, Angelique (June 21, 2024). "'Bad Boys 4' Directors Adil & Bilall on Will Smith and Martin Lawrence 'Freestyling' the Slap Joke, and Their Ideas for a Fifth Movie". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "Top 2024 Movies at the Worldwide Box Office". The Numbers. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 10, 2017). "'Scalped': Bilall Fallah & Adil El Arbi To Direct WGN America Pilot". Deadline. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Guglielmi, Luca (March 22, 2017). "'Scalped' TV Pilot To Film In April". All The Stuff You Care About. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  18. ^ Arrant, Chris (November 29, 2017). "WGN Passes On SCALPED Television Series". newsarama. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Kit, Borys (May 19, 2021). "'Bad Boys for Life' Filmmakers to Direct 'Batgirl' Movie for Warner Bros. (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "'Irredeemable' 'Batgirl' movie gets 'shelved' by Warner Bros. despite $70M price tag: source". New York Post. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  21. ^ Tusing, David. "Who are Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah? Moroccan-Belgian directors behind the new Batgirl film". The National. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  22. ^ "Adil El Arbi et Bilall Fallah : "On voudrait faire un jour un road movie au Maroc"". Telquel.ma (in French). Retrieved July 14, 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adil_El_Arbi_and_Bilall_Fallah&oldid=1245561289"