As the 21st highest grossing film of 2012, Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s 21 Jump Street was one of the biggest surprises of the year. So it's no surprise that Sony Pictures and MGM are hoping that undercover lightning will strike twice with the upcoming sequel 22 Jump Street, which began production earlier today. The movie will be filming for the next few months both in New Orleans and in Puerto Rico. I wonder what they’ll be doing out there... spring break, perhaps?
While these kinds of announcements are typically paired with a big reveal of the entire cast, that's not the case here. Instead the press release announcing the start of production only names the members of the cast who we already knew were coming back. The two leads, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, are reprising their roles as Jump Street division partners Jenko and Schmidt, and Ice Cube will be back as Captain Dickson. Amber Stevens (Greek) will star as Hill’s love interest, while Workaholics actress Jillian Bell will play Stevens’ do-gooder roommate. Wyatt Russell (We Are What We Are) will also star.
Not many story details have been released about the film, but we do know that Jenko and Schmidt have graduated from high school and are now going undercover on a college campus, immersing themselves in the lifestyle. As they complete their mission they question their partnership and must try to have an adult relationship.
I’m not going to lie to you guys: I was one of the biggest haters against the buddy comedy remake back when because I had no faith that the original series was worth bringing back - and I really didn’t believe Jonah Hill was the guy to pull it off. But he was joined by co-writer Michael Bacall, and what they made together turned out to be a really well-written piece, cleverly playing a formulaic story for huge laughs. Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman are all given screenplay credits for the sequel, while the initial story credit once again belongs to Bacall and Hill
Possibly the most surprising thing of all about 21 Jump Street, however, was how well directors Lord and Miller made the transfer from animation to live-action, sacrificing very little of their style in the process. They're involvement was what got me excited about the first one, and the fact that they’ve returned is what’s topping off my optimism for this sequel. Before 22 Jump Street hits they'll be expanding the "animated feature" section of their resume, started by Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, with The Lego Movie, which will be in theaters on February 14, 2014.
You will be able to see 22 Jump Street when it arrives on June 13, 2014... and now it's blooper reel time!
