The running joke at the end of 22 Jump Street was how the potential for subsequent stories centered around Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum)was limitless. Cooking school? Check. Outer space? Absolutely. But I don’t think any of us saw this coming.
The Wall Street Journal has been poring over the information coming out due to the ongoing Sony leaks. We have heard stories about the studio’s efforts to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve heard about the studio’s opinion of Adam Sandler. And now the WSJ is reporting that Sony plans (or possibly planned) a crossover movie for its Jump Street and Men In Black franchises.
Using emails shared between Sony executives, the WSJ says that there is no script for this Jump Street/Men In Black crossover event at the moment, so they would be greenlighting the project simply on the concept and the talent involved. But they quote an email from Jonah Hill stating that he supports the suggestion, and they go so far as to say that this is "one of the highest profile projects on the studio’s slate," and that they’d love to get it in theaters by 2016 or 2017.
Personally, I think this is a genius idea. Both the Jump Street franchise and the Men In Black series have reached the point where yet another routine sequel would exhaust whatever goodwill remains in the tank. The 22 Jump Street end credits were a joke meant to emphasize that point. BUT… putting Schmidt and Jenko on a case that could involve aliens? Now that’s a way to reinvigorate both narratives with some very funny creative folks at the helm.
The Wall Street Journal shares a few details, even though nothing is set in stone. They say that Men In Black stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones "would not be included in the movie, at least in prominent roles." They also dangle the tease that Jump Street geniuses Phil Lord and Chris Miller would produce this mash up event, and "may direct it."
Of course, we also just linked Lord and Miller to an animated Spider-Man movie, so yeah, a lot of this is up in the air. But it’s exciting to note that Sony at least seems to have had thoughts about building a much larger Jump Street universe. Do you think it’s a good idea?
