Looks Like “Men In Black” Will Meet “23 Jump Street” After All

While rumors have been
abound that the Agent Jay could be showing up
in this summer’s
Ghostbusters, you can take those
bets off the table
now. Instead, move those chips over to information
remaining from the
cataclysmic
Sony email hacking scandal.

Per an exclusive article at
Variety, Sony
Pictures is indeed
moving forward to bring the casts of two franchises together
– and probably
not what you were expecting
either. Chris Miller and Phil
Lord’s 21 Jump Street franchise is
gearing to crossover with Barry

Sonnenfeld’s Men In Black. Sources show that director James Bobin,
who
has Alice Through
The Look Glass releasing this Memorial Day, has
entered early
negotiations to direct the next
installment of, well,
both franchises. Bobin will replace Miller
and Lord, who are both in
pre-
production with a Han Solo picture due in December 2018. Sony, who had no

comment on the original article, is
eyeing a June start date.

Both Jonah
Hill and Channing Tatum will
return as Schmidt and Jenko
respectively, as well
as serve as executive producers. In a move
unsurprising, Will Smith and Tommy
Lee
Jones will be moving on. Though unconfirmed, the sources suggest that

Agents Jay and Kay will both be recast
with fresh faces to softly reboot the 19-
year-old franchise for a new
generation. Casting should begin soon,
as Sony will
attempt to land recognizable star power to bring this project
to life. Rodney
Rothman, who
helped co-write 22 Jump Street, has reportedly turned in
an early
draft of the screenplay that was
viewed positively, leaving executives
to react quickly to get the ball
rolling.

Given Bobin’s sense
of comedy
from Flight of the Conchords, as well as retaining both
Hill and Tatum
as the leads,
this crossover could be something to keep a watchful eye on. Both
respective
franchises are fan favorites and
sure winners at the box office.
(Nevermind that Sony is also hungry for a
box office hit these days.)
Tatum’s
schedule opened up after production moved back on Fox’s
Gambit, while
Jonah Will is
between projects himself after hosting Saturday Night
Live for his
fourth time last night. Then
again, perhaps Sony is forgetting
that the very-meta 22 Jump Street
also winked at itself by
indicating
this would be the next sequel;