During the whole Sony email hack fiasco, one of the many juicy tidbits that emerged was Jonah Hill's "wild and rad" idea to crossover Men in Black with the 'Jump Street' comedies. While it seemed far fetched to ever happen, stories persisted that kept the project alive, even though there didn't seem to be any real talent confirmed for any of it. Well now that's over as the film is definitely happening and has a director ready to join the returning Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.
James Bobin, who recently directed The Muppets and Alice Through the Looking Glass, is in early talks to direct the crossover film, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller producing. Hill and Tatum will be reprising their roles as officers Jenko and Schmidt, but don't expect to see Tommy Lee Jones or Will Smith as the alien-hunting agents. Instead there will be younger stars cast as different agents in an attempt to relaunch the franchise, something Sony has been planning to do anyway.
As for how a clashing of cinematic worlds like this could possibly happen? Well, Sony is keeping the plot under wraps for now, which is probably a good idea. And considering they are using this to try and rebuild Men in Black, could this also be the way all of those fake sequels are introduced into 23 Jump Street? There's no official green light but a June start is expected. That shouldn't be a problem for Tatum to fit in now that Fox's Gambit film has been yanked from the schedule. [Variety]
