Channing Tatum Still Wants to Make 23 Jump Street: "The Best Script I've Ever Read For a Third Movie" (Exclusive)
Tatum stars in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12.
Hollywood's next big comedy franchise halted before it could ever truly begin. Back in 2008, Sony Pictures began developing 21 Jump Street, a feature film adaptation of the Johnny Depp-led 1980s television series of the same name. While the movie version would continue the same concept of youthful police officers going undercover at a high school, the Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) script promised to dial the comedy up to an 11. Fresh off of Superbad, Jonah Hill joined 21 Jump Street to refine the script, executive produce, and star in what he envisioned as an "R-rated, Bad Boys-meets-John Hughes-type movie." Channing Tatum signed on to co-star, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would direct, and the rest is history.
21 Jump Street went on to bring in over $200 million dollars on just a $42 million dollar budget, but it was its word-of-mouth momentum out of the gate gave Sony Pictures all the confidence it needed to pursue a sequel. Just days after 21 Jump Street premiered at South by Southwest in March 2012, Sony looked to make a 22 Jump Street. Hill, Tatum, Lord and Miller all returned for the second installment, which went on to gross $331 million dollars worldwide in Summer 2014.
The upward trajectory of the franchise led Sony to wanting more, as a 23 Jump Street was confirmed later that fall. That December, leaked Sony emails revealed that the third Jump Street installment was planned to be a crossover with the Men in Black franchise, tentatively titled MIB 23. Despite landing a director at one point, MIB 23 never made it past the development stage, and the Jump Street franchise has been without life ever since.
Channing Tatum Still Wants to Make 23 Jump Street
Even one decade on from its last installment, Channing Tatum still wants to finish the Jump Street trilogy.
Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon press junket, Tatum addressed the long-rumored Men in Black x 21 Jump Street crossover.
"There is a project that was written and it's still the best script that I've ever read for a third movie," Tatum revealed.
The specifics of what the planned third Jump Street movie would entail came in an unprecedented way. Back in late 2014, Sony Pictures was subject to a company-wide data breach after a hacker group leaked private emails. Within those exposed emails, industry-changing conversations were revealed including plans to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, concepts of an animated Miles Morales film, and the 23 Jump Street and Men in Black crossover idea. MIB 23 is the only one of those three to not materialize.
"What happened?" Fly Me to the Moon co-star Scarlett Johansson asked Tatum.
"It's just a lot of bureaucracy, kind of above the line stuff," Tatum responded. "It's really hard to get it made and we've been trying to get it done."
The last tangible MIB 23 momentum was eight years ago. James Bobin (The Muppets) signed on to direct the threequel in 2016 with a speculated production start of that June. Cameras never started rolling.
"You know what, I'm going to put some good juju out there and I'm going to say I would love to see 23 Jump Street," Tatum told ComicBook. "I would love to do it with Jonah, and Jonah I know wants to do it. We would love to just get to go play again."
Tatum stars in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12th.
