Back in March of 2016, Sony told entertainment news outlets that a MEN IN BLACK/21 JUMP STREET crossover was definitely happening. As the story goes, information about the curious crossover had been revealed during the infamous Sony email hack, a breach of confidentiality that exposed many aspects of Sony's business, including details related to possible ventures. Rather than deny the existence of the project, filmmaker Rodney Rothman leaned into the reveal, going so far as to say that the film was in its early design stages. From that point on, the head-scratching spinoff had entered its "long-gestating" phase. Personally, I've never spoken to a single person who ever believed that this project would actually come to fruition, and now, we have a confirmation that it's officially off the table.
Recently, while speaking with Empire Magazine (via Yahoo! Movies) about the tenatively titled MIB 23, MEN IN BLACK producer Walter Parkes said: “We gave it a shot. It turned out to be an impossible match-up.”
Back when the hack exposed a raft of Sony's plans for the future, it was revealed that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the writer-director team of the 21 JUMP STREET films, were crafting a script that saw undercover cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Janko (Channing Tatum) joining forces with the Men in Black agency. In fact, at the time that plans for the crossover film were unveiled, Lord was quoted as saying: “We’re really focusing on what’s a great story for Schmidt and Jenko and how to tell the next chapter in their lives,” he added. “And perhaps use creatures from another world at the same time.”
For now, the only 21 JUMP STREET project in the works is a female-led version of franchise, which would have Tiffany Haddish (NIGHT SCHOOL, GIRLS TRIP) and Awkwafina (CRAZY RICH ASIANS, OCEAN'S 8) in the starring roles. Meanwhile, the latest chapter of the MEN IN BLACK franchise, MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL, starring Chris Hemsworth (THOR: RAGNAROK, BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE), Tessa Thompson (CREED II, WESTWORLD), Liam Neeson (THE GREY, KINSEY), Emma Thompson (SAVING MR. BANKS, LOVE, ACTUALLY), Rebecca Ferguson (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT, LIFE) and Kumail Nanjiani (THE BIG SICK, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE) is scheduled to open in theaters on June 14, 2019.
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