22 Jump Street was one crazy production. There was an octopus inking, a gun-happy car chase and Jillian Bell’s spotlight-stealing fight with Jonah Hill, to name a few memorable moments. When you have the dynamic duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller at the helm, these types of shenanigans are expected. What wasn’t, though, was that time the co-directors torched the end zone of a football field. But it’s cool, ‘cause it was an accident.
During a Reddit AMA with Lord and Miller, they were asked about the craziest thing that happened to them on set of 22 Jump Street. For Miller, there’s one all too clear answer.
We accidentally burned down the end zone of a football stadium when a fireball effect got out of control. It was not funny at the time but now to me it is funny.
The Jump Street crew filmed scenes at a few football fields, including New Orleans’ Tad Gormley Stadium. Other college scenes were shot at Tulane, Loyola and Xavier, so it’s a bit unclear which of these subjects felt the burning sting of Miller and Lord’s genius. If we had to guess, our money is on the big football game scene. Channing Tatum’s Jenko is basking in the glory of his faux college stardom and helps take home a major victory for the school. Caught up in the heat of the moment, the fans rush the field and take down that end zone goal post, after which a fire ensues. You can check out that scene at the 10:27 mark in the VFX reel below.
As they say, you need friction to make fire, right?
There was also a major explosion that happened during the high-speed car chase after Schmidt and Jenko fail miserably at going undercover in a warehouse. (Well, more so Jenko than Schmidt.) We’re surprised Lord and Miller didn’t burn down more in their pursuits to recreate the hilarity of the first film. But they somehow did it, and without pulling a Dark Knight Rises and completely blasting an entire football field to smithereens. With a 23 Jump Street already in the works, we can’t wait to see what other explosive gags await.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are lucky they're the golden boys of Hollywood right now, because if they weren’t, burning down an entire end zone might not have been the best thing to have on their resumes. But it seems like these guys can do no wrong. Aside from unintentionally creating a Jump Street movie franchise, they also are leading the LEGO Movie charge, they premiered a new TV series called The Last Man On Earth, and they’re rebooting The Greatest American Hero. So if they want to set fire to the rain, we’d be surprised if anyone stood in their way.
