While the original 21 Jump Street TV series basically operated as a standard procedural, the reboot movies starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum decided to handle the material with comedic hands. That paid off big time, as both 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street were critically and commercially well-received. That said, while 22 Jump Street used its closing credits poked fun at all the sequels it could spawn, there hadn't been any updates lately on if/when the film series will continue. Well, that changed today, as word's come in that rather than release a 23 Jump Street, Sony is definitely moving ahead with a female-centric Jump Street spinoff.
After 22 Jump Street were released, there were two projects reported to be in consideration for the Jump Street franchise: a spinoff about female undercover cops and a crossover with the Men in Black franchise that would be called MIB23. Years later, MIB23 has been shelved, and Sony is moving ahead with the spinoff. Rodney Rothman, who wrote the first two Jump Street movies, is penning the script, and Sony is searching for the "right female comedians" to play officers who are sent to go undercover in a high school, just like so many before them. Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch told Variety:
We think that there's something fun about keeping that irreverent spirit of Jump Street, but maybe having it be told through a female undercover cop point-of-view. We've had enough male buddy comedies. The script is really funny and has a freshness to it.
Given how long it's been since we last saw Jonah Hill's Morton Schmidt and Channing Tatum's Greg Jenko in action, not to mention how the actors' stardom have risen even higher in the years after 22 Jump Street, it seemed like another sequel starring these two was unlikely. Besides, since 22 Jump Street pretty covered almost all its bases on where the duo's next adventures could go, MIB23 was really the only clever option left, and that's no longer in the cards. So instead, now it's time to follow along with some women who will be sent to high schools to track down drug dealers and other sorts of ne'er-do-wells. Since this next Jump Street story is a spinoff of the earlier movies rather than a reboot, fingers crossed we'll still see some familiar faces, like Ice Cube as Captain Dickinson or Nick Offerman as Deputy Chief Hardy.
Jump Street is just one of the franchises that Sony is keeping alive, because in addition to the studio's Spider-Man work (both in partnership with Marvel Studios and on its own with Venom and other spinoffs), it also has a Charlie's Angels reboot, a Men in Black spinoff and Bad Boys 3 on the way. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on what's happening with this Jump Street spinoff, but for now, you can find out what movies are coming to theaters over the next year in our 2018 and 2019 release schedules.
