Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Fallah (left) and El Arbi (right), 2018
BornAdil El Arbi
(1988-06-30) June 30, 1988 (age 35)
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 of Moroccan descent. 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 Bad Boys for Life (2020), the third installment of the Bad Boys franchise starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.[1][2]

Career

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.[3] They directed the first two episodes in the TV series Snowfall, which aired on July 5 and 12 in 2017, as well as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike's music video "When I Grow Up", which features American rapper Wiz Khalifa.[4] Besides directing Bad Boys for Life, the duo were also attached to direct Beverly Hills Cop IV, the fourth installment of the Beverly Hills Cop film series, in which Eddie Murphy is set to reprise his role.[5][6] The duo also directed and executive produced Ms. Marvel for Disney+.[7] In May 2021, it was announced that the duo would direct a film based on Batgirl for HBO Max.[8] In April 2022, it was announced that the duo will no longer direct Beverly Hills Cop IV.[9] In August 2022, after Warner Bros. Discovery made the decision to write the film off for tax purposes, it was announced that the movie Batgirl would not be released. With a reported $90 million budget, Batgirl is one of the highest budget movies in history to be produced, but not released.[10] By February 2023, the duo signed on to direct Bad Boys IV.[11]

Filmography

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 Notes
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 Untitled fourth Bad Boys film Yes No No Filming
Canceled Batgirl Yes No No Unreleased

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

References

  1. ^ "Production Begins on Bad Boys For Life". January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "Bad Boys for Life Begins Production, Will Smith Shares New Photo". MovieWeb. January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "10 Directors to Watch: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah Bring Street Cred to Belgian Cinema". January 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ft. Wiz Khalifa - When I Grow Up (Official Music Video)". YouTube. June 22, 2018.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' moves forward with Eddie Murphy". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  7. ^ "'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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "'Irredeemable' 'Batgirl' movie gets 'shelved' by Warner Bros. despite $70M price tag: source". New York Post. August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  11. ^ Jackson, Angelique (January 31, 2023). "Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Announce Fourth 'Bad Boys' Movie". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2023.

External links

Films directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
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