Given its box office gross and critical success, it's not all that surprising that 21 Jump Street is getting a sequel. Whether or not the follow-up to the feature film inspired by the once-popular TV series will find the same success at the box office remains to be seen, but a sequel is happening. Channing Tatum cannot be stopped!
Earlier this month, Tatum confirmed via Twitter that he and Jump Street co-star Jonah Hill are working on a sequel. And today THR offered further confirmation through an interview they ran with Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad, who spoke on a number of topics, including "Adam Sandler fatigue" (in the wake of That's My Boy and Just Go With It), whether or not Marc Webb will return to direct the Spider-Man sequel (they want him back, but there are obstacles, including Webb's obligation to Fox), and the status of the 21 Jump Street sequel. On that topic, Belgrad said they're planning to start shooting it in the fall.
While sequels are certainly hit or miss, 21 Jump Street seems like a good fit for a follow-up, especially when factoring in the fantastic comedic chemistry between stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. In the first film, they played two former high school classmates who are now police officers and teamed up to go under cover at a high school to sniff out a drug ring. The film made the wise choice of taking the story in a comedic direction, rather than attempting to approach the story dramatically as the original series did. Fans of the TV show may disagree with me there, but I thought the format worked out nicely for a funny, buddy-cop movie with an undercover twist. It'll be interesting to see what the story set-up will be for 21 Jump Street 2. Will Tatum and Hill be going back undercover as high school students? Or is there some other undercover narcotics-related scenario (college) in the works?
