Summary:
- Channing Tatum praises the script for “23 Jump Street,” calling it the best he’s ever read for a third movie, and expresses his eagerness to make it, despite facing bureaucratic challenges.
- The film was planned as a crossover with the “Men in Black” franchise, but complexities have stalled its development.
One of the best TV-to-film adaptations has been Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s hilarious take on “21 Jump Street,” starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.
The 2012 action comedy, inspired by the 1987 TV series, follows the unlikely friendship and partnership of Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) as they go undercover in a high school to bust a drug ring.
21 Jump Street” skillfully balances meta-humor about TV-to-movie adaptations while avoiding full-blown parody. With a stellar supporting cast including Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Nick Offerman, Rob Riggle, and Ice Cube, the film was a hit, leading to the successful sequel “22 Jump Street.
Despite its success, the highly anticipated “23 Jump Street” has been stuck in development, even though Tatum recently called its script “the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie.
The Journey of 23 Jump Street
In 2014, a hacker group known as Guardians of Peace leaked confidential information from Sony Pictures, revealing plans for future films, including “23 Jump Street.
Official reports had already mentioned the development of “23 Jump Street,” with Rodney Rothman returning as the writer and James Bobin as the director, while Lord & Miller would produce.
The leak also disclosed that “23 Jump Street” was planned as a crossover with the “Men in Black” franchise, titled “MiB 23.” This crossover would merge Schmidt and Jenko into the sci-fi universe of “Men in Black.
Although it wasn’t clear if Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones would reprise their roles, Channing Tatum has confirmed that the script was exceptional.
Tatum’s Hopes for 23 Jump Street
During a publicity round for his upcoming movie “Fly Me to the Moon,” Tatum discussed “MiB 23” and expressed his enthusiasm for the project, telling ComicBook.com:
“There is a project that was written and it’s still the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie.”
Despite the script’s quality, the movie faces bureaucratic challenges, making it difficult to move forward.
Jonah Hill echoed similar sentiments in 2016, mentioning the complexities of making deals due to the “Men in Black” elements.
Hill said, “It’s almost become what we were making fun of and it’s hard to maintain that joke when it’s so high stakes.”
Despite these hurdles, Tatum remains hopeful about the project, saying:
“I would love to see ’23 Jump Street.’ I would love to do it with Jonah, and Jonah I know wants to do it. We would love to just get to go play again.”
Sony Pictures seems to be missing out on a lucrative opportunity by not advancing this project, given the success of the first two movies and the current scarcity of comedies in theaters.
The script for “23 Jump Street” was even planned to make all the fake sequels shown during the credits of “22 Jump Street” canon, which would be an exciting challenge to bring to life.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that “23 Jump Street” or “MiB 23” eventually makes it to the big screen.
