It’s been over ten years since Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill first went undercover as high schoolers trying to bust a drug ring in the R-rated comedy hit 21 Jump Street. Unsurprisingly, the duo returned for a sequel in 2014, along with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have since exploded with projects such as The Lego Movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequels, The Last Man on Earth, and Apple TV+’s The Afterparty. In hindsight, the sequel 22 Jump Street was the end of a box office renaissance for R-rated comedies that began in 2009 with The Hangover. It also reflects just how beloved the two Jump Street movies were. Given that popularity, it wouldn’t have been surprising if we were already onto a Jump Street legacy sequel spoof by now. Instead, there have been no further Jump Street sequels, and it doesn’t look like that’ll change anytime soon. What happened here? Why has 23 Jump Street or any other continuation of this franchise, been so elusive?
The Sony Hack Teased a Jump Street and Men in Black Crossover
Given that 23 Jump Street was mockingly teased in a sight gag during 22 Jump Street and was explicitly depicted in the hysterical end credits of that same film, it’s no surprise that such a project was on the minds of the people responsible for the first two installments in the franchise. It didn’t hurt that, circa. 2014, Sony/Columbia Pictures needed franchises. Badly. This was still in the age where Sony Pictures Animation was struggling to get movies regularly released, Andrew Garfield‘s Spider-Man franchise was in disarray, and the company’s long-standing relationship with comedian Adam Sandler was drawing to a close. This studio needed reliable hits and the Jump Street saga looked poised to deliver such lucrative features.
In September 2014, three months after 22 Jump Street turned into one of the biggest movies of 2014, Rodney Rothman was hired to pen a draft for 23 Jump Street. At the time, no release date was set and Lord and Miller were not signed on to direct, though Sony/Columbia clearly wanted them to return. This wasn’t surprising, but what was shocking was the eventual direction this follow-up would take. That December, as one of the many things revealed to the public as part of the Sony hack, it was revealed that the next Jump Street movie would be a crossover with fellow Sony property Men in Black.
The initially inexplicable plan actually made a bit of sense when one considers how such a project could skewer “cinematic universes” like 21 Jump Street poked fun at movie adaptations of TV shows and high school movies while 22 Jump Street had all sorts of meta-gags about sequels. Meanwhile, bringing in the Men in Black universe would be an automatic way to get this installment to feel different from its predecessors. Injecting sci-fi spectacle into this franchise was a bold gambit…but then again wasn’t doing a 21 Jump Street movie in the first place a bold gambit?
’21 Jump Street’ Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller Were Busy With Other Projects
As 2015 began, the Jump Street franchise seemed to be moving on all cylinders, with rumors swirling that an additional spin-off led by women characters was also in development alongside that MIB 23 project. However, this was also the year when a major obstacle began to emerge for any future Jump Street projects: Lord and Miller’s busy schedules. The duo had openly talked about passing the reins of the next installment onto a new filmmaker but still wanted to be involved creatively in the writing and producing of further Jump Street adventures. This same year, the duo revealed the most compelling detail about this proposed sequel, which is that every single one of the follow-ups depicted in the credits of 22 Jump Street would be confirmed as canon.
Even with this creative idea on where to take the story for another Jump Street outing, Lord and Miller wouldn’t have much time in the near future for this franchise. 2015 was the year Lord and Miller angled to break into big-budget live-action blockbusters, first by flirting with directing The Flash and then by signing on to helm Solo: A Star Wars Story. These were the kinds of projects that would take up a lot of time and ensure that the original creative voices of the Jump Street films would have, at best, a strained presence in whatever came next.
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s Careers Shifted Away From ’23 Jump Street’
Even with that development, though, things began to move along on the development of MIB 23, with director James Bobin getting hired to helm the feature in early 2016. However, a new problem emerged by the end of this year through the career trajectories of the saga’s leading men, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Both men were about to take long hiatuses from traditional leading men roles after being inescapable at movie theaters in the last decade. After the 2016 film War Dogs, Hill shifted away from comedies and focused on his directorial debut mid90s, as well as occasional tiny roles in indie films like The Beach Bum.
Tatum, meanwhile, did Logan Lucky and Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017, and then vanished from prominent live-action roles until Dog in 2022. While Hill just wanted to focus on other artistic pursuits, Tatum was wanting to dial back his Hollywood presence and be more of a father. These differing ambitions ensured that neither Hill nor Tatum was going to be anchoring a traditional comedy like MIB 23 anytime soon.
R-rated comedies Like ‘21 Jump Street’ Aren’t as Common Anymore
Perhaps sensing that MIB 23 was stalling out, Sony/Columbia Pictures made the surprise announcement at the end of 2017 that the Men in Black franchise would be returning in the summer of 2019 with Men in Black: International. This was a wholly separate and new creative endeavor that ensured MIB 23 was even less of a priority. In early 2019, Phil Lord revealed an update on the franchise’s future by confirming that not only were further Jump Street movies on the docket but that the plan now was to make the next installment 24 Jump Street. This unexpected development indicated that there was still hope for more Jump Street movies, though there was no word on what creative team would be involved with this proposed feature.
By the end of the 2010s, the importance of the Jump Street movies hadn’t just been dialed down for Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. It was also less of a massive necessity for Sony/Columbia Pictures. Though the studio would obviously love to have as many ongoing lucrative franchises as possible, the Jump Street movies weren’t a massive priority for this outfit. This was partly because Sony/Columbia Pictures, like all major American movie studios in the late 2010s save for Universal Pictures, has dialed down the number of comedies they make annually if they make any at all. R-rated comedies like the original 21 Jump Street are now an anomaly in the modern annual ambitions of Sony/Columbia Pictures.
It doesn’t help that Sony has to share profits and ownership of these movies. The original 21 Jump Street was co-financed between Sony/Columbia and MGM in an era where the two studios were working together frequently (MGM also co-financed Sony features like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Hope Springs in the early 2010s). Additionally, Sony/Columbia also brought in the production outfit Original Film to help cover the budget of both Jump Street movies while 22 Jump Street had additional financier Media Rights Capital in the mix. Nearly a decade later, Sony/Columbia Pictures isn’t averse to co-financing projects, but modern blockbusters and sequels like Jumanji: The Next Level or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood typically only have one other co-financier in the mix that will inevitably soak up some of the box office profits. Any further Jump Street movies would have to involve MGM and Original Title to some degree, thus limiting the profits Sony/Columbia Pictures could expect from MIB 23/24 Jump Street. With this complicated behind-the-scenes detail to grapple with, it’s no wonder the Jump Street movies have fallen down the chain of priorities for Sony/Columbia Pictures brass.
’23 Jump Street’ Is Starting To Look Like a Possibility Again
Recent years haven’t offered up a lot of reasons to be hopeful for the Jump Street movie hiatus to come to an end. Lord and Miller now have a cushy deal with Universal Pictures that keeps them very busy, and while they’re still working with Sony on the Spider-Verse sequels, it’s doubtful Universal wants the duo working with a rival studio on further movies. Tatum and Hill have begun headlining features again, but they also seem interested in anchoring original features like The Lost City and You People rather than revisiting older characters. The struggles to turn older TV shows into modern box office hits, like Baywatch and the 2019 Charlie’s Angels movie, have further made it seem unlikely we’ll ever see another Jump Street sequel.
But fans of these movies shouldn’t lose hope just yet. After all, Channing Tatum earlier this year explicitly said that he loved the MIB 23 script and still wants Sony to resolve various behind-the-scenes issues so that crossover movie can finally become a reality. Lord and Miller, meanwhile, have often expressed positive sentiments about the idea of delivering a new installment in this franchise. With 22 Jump Street‘s box office feat, which doesn’t seem likely to get toppled anytime soon, there’ll always be a flicker of hope that a new Jump Street movie could be just around the corner.
The Big Picture
- 22 Jump Street‘s domestic box office success marked the end of a renaissance for R-rated comedies and reflected the popularity of the franchise.
- Plans for a 23 Jump Street crossover with Men in Black were teased, but scheduling conflicts and other career aspirations derailed the project.
- Sony/Columbia Pictures’ decreased focus on comedies and complicated financing arrangements have pushed the franchise down the priority list, but there is still hope for future installments.
