24 Jump Street is on! Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube, the leads of the famous R-rated crime comedy franchise, are in talks to return for the third installment, according to a news report.
Rodney Rothman, who is known for his work on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will direct the film, Variety reported. He has written the script with Hill and Meghan Malloy. Phil Lord and Chris Miller will return as producers for the project along with Neal H. Moritz. Tatum and Reid Carolin are producing the film for Free Associations while Hill and Matt Dines are joining under their Strong Baby banner.
A Look At Jump Street Franchise
Hill and Tatum starred in 2012’s 21 Jump Street as Schmidt and Jenko, cops who go undercover at a local high school to expose a drug racket. Meanwhile, Cube plays their superior, Captain Dickson. The film was a huge success for Lord and Miller who made their live-action directorial debut with it. As per Variety, it grossed more than $200 million globally.
The box office success led to making of sequel, 22 Jump Street, in 2014 where both Hill and Tatum reprised their roles as cops and it turned out of a bigger success than the first film, minting a total of a $331 million on box office.
But Why 24 Jump Street And Not 23 Jump Street?
According to Variety, the third installment has been in works for more than a decade. Tatum himself described as “the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie,” but it was reportedly scrapped.
The “Jump Street” films have always poked fun at Hollywood’s obsession with reboots and sequels. The movies themselves are a modern reboot of the 1980s TV series starring Johnny Depp. In the closing credits of 22 Jump Street, Schmidt and Jenko are shown taking on a series of fictional undercover missions at places like medical school, culinary school and even in space, as a joke about endless sequels.
Because of that running gag, Sony calling the next installment “24 Jump Street” is seen as a continuation of the joke rather than a traditional sequel title.
Negotations around the making of the third installment are expected to take place soon, as per the report.
