One of the best things to come out of the Sony e-mail hacks, MIB 23 (the 21 Jump Street/Men in Black Crossover you never knew you wanted) was all set to happen earlier this year, with The Muppets James Bobin taking on the helm of the project that was simultaneously the sequel to 22 Jump Street and a way of rebooting the Men in Black franchise with a new cast of characters. Even though the two men who made the Jump Street movies instant smash hits, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were busy with the young Han Solo movie, they remained on as producers so everything seemed right with the world. Unfortunately, Jonah Hill has some bad news for us regarding the crossover. Talking to the Toronto Sun, he revealed the project may have been a bit too ambitious, saying:
“I had the idea, but I doubt that movie will ever get made. They’re trying to make all the deals, but it’s kind of impossible with all the Men in Black stuff. The Jump Street films were so fun to make and the whole joke of them was they were making fun of remakes and sequels and reboots and then now it’s become a giant sequel, reboot. It’s almost become what we were making fun of and it’s hard to maintain that joke when it’s so high stakes.”
This does make sense. 21 and 22 Jump Street worked because they were poking the fun at reboots and sequels, and were able to subvert the conventions of both. What we have with MIB 23 is a big budget blockbuster, tons of special effects, and the weight of rebooting a well known franchise on top of that. While it would have been a blast to see, it would be exactly what the Jump Street movies were taking the mick out of and I don’t see any fun in that. While Hill’s stance may change and they find the perfect way to make it work, at the moment it feels like the project is now on the shelf. This doesn’t mean a proper 23 Jump Street won’t happen, but given the busy schedules of Hill, Lord, Miller, and Channing Tatum, it is a few years down the line.
“I had the idea, but I doubt that movie will ever get made. They’re trying to make all the deals, but it’s kind of impossible with all the Men in Black stuff. The Jump Street films were so fun to make and the whole joke of them was they were making fun of remakes and sequels and reboots and then now it’s become a giant sequel, reboot. It’s almost become what we were making fun of and it’s hard to maintain that joke when it’s so high stakes.”
This does make sense. 21 and 22 Jump Street worked because they were poking the fun at reboots and sequels, and were able to subvert the conventions of both. What we have with MIB 23 is a big budget blockbuster, tons of special effects, and the weight of rebooting a well known franchise on top of that. While it would have been a blast to see, it would be exactly what the Jump Street movies were taking the mick out of and I don’t see any fun in that. While Hill’s stance may change and they find the perfect way to make it work, at the moment it feels like the project is now on the shelf. This doesn’t mean a proper 23 Jump Street won’t happen, but given the busy schedules of Hill, Lord, Miller, and Channing Tatum, it is a few years down the line.
