One of the more surprising bits of news to emerge from the Sony email hack of 2014 was a suggestion that the studio were developing a crossover between the Men in Black and Jump Street films. On the face of it, these properties don’t seem to have much to do with each other, but not only is the project happening, a title has been announced.
At Sony’s CinemaCon panel in Las Vegas this week, it was revealed that the movie would be titled MIB 23. As Variety reported last month, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are expected to reprise their roles from 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, and will also serve as executive producers on the movie.
The Muppets director James Bobin is being eyed to helm the action-comedy. Previous Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller will be involved on a production level–the pair are currently working on the Star Wars Han Solo movie.
Men in Black stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will not be back however, with Variety stating that “younger, fresher faces” are being sought to play the alien-investigating government agents.
The script has been written by Rodney Rothman, who worked on 22 Jump Street. Story details are being kept under wraps, and it has been rumoured that Sony is requiring that most people drive to its studio HQ to read the script.
No release date for MIB 23 has been announced yet.