In many ways, Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 22 Jump Street is kind of an ode to just how dumb sequels are. Operating as a successful satire, the movie is almost entirely made up of meta commentary about how flawed the system of Hollywood sequels really is. And even if you missed all of that during the actual movie, the final sequence of the film is literally just a barrage of bad sequel ideas paraded one after the other. The movie seemed to take a very firm stance that it would be the end of the franchise... but apparently that message didn't get through to the people at Sony Pictures
Deadline's sources have learned that Rodney Rothman, one of the writers on 22 Jump Street, has been hired by Sony and Original Film to write a screenplay for 23 Jump Street. While Phil Lord and Chris Miller are not yet attached to the project as directors, they are apparently overseeing Rothman's work and look to serve as producers on the sequel alongside Neal Moritz, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The production companies behind the developing feature are apparently keeping the door open for Lord and Miller to direct, but they have not yet committed to the gig.
The end of 22 Jump Street may have been making fun of the idea of more Jump Street movies - 22 more, to be exact - but when looking at the box office numbers it's not exactly hard to see why Sony wants to make a 23 Jump Street. Released this past June and opening with a strong $57 million debut, the movie went on to make $190 million at the domestic box office and $319 million worldwide. Even though the feature cost a bit more than its predecessor - reported $50 million vs. $42 million - the success can not be denied.
Rodney Rothman has a long history of writing credits, dating back to when he was the head writer for the Late Show with David Letterman back in the '90s, but he has only started to move into features in recent years. In 2013 he was one of the writers credited on the Robert De Niro/Sylvester Stallone boxing comedy Grudge Match, and he was listed alongside Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Jonah Hill as co-writers on 22 Jump Street.
As for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, whether or not they will come back as directors is an interesting question. They have been busy with television projects as of late, helping make the upcoming Last Man On Earth and currently developing a reboot of Greatest American Hero, but they have not yet committed to their next feature. It's also worth noting that the duo were considering not coming back for 22 Jump Street, but found that the script changed their mind. Could something similar happen here? We'll have more for you as the project develops.
