New Men In Black Trilogy In Development; Will Smith Not Involved

The husband and wife team of Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are well respected in Hollywood, especially after three of the films they produced won consecutive Best Pictures Oscars -- American Beauty, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Another notch on their belt would be the Men in Black film franchise that starred Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K and Will Smith as Agent J.

The last film in the series, Men in Black 3, earned over $600M at the worldwide box office, but it was later revealed in leaked Sony documents that it actually lost money due to large salaries and backend points they were shelling out to the talent. What's next for the franchise? Parkes and MacDonald chatted with The Hollywood Reporter and revealed their plans.

THR: You produced Men in Black. Has there been talk of reviving that franchise with the new Sony regime?

Parkes: We're in the middle of it. It's very active.

THR: Is Will Smith going to be part of it?

Parkes: Most likely no.

MacDonald: It will be reinvented as a trilogy.

Keep in mind, the Sony emails also revealed that the studio was seriously considering making a Men In Black/Jump Street crossover film with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. In April, The Wrap confirmed that the studio was still looking to move forward with the out-of-the-box concept.