As far as crossovers go, combining the 21 Jump Street movie franchise with the Men in Black franchise is about as ambitious as it is bizarre, but it’s still an idea that would have kept the fans coming back. Although such a film was announced back in 2016, it’s been in development hell ever since. Despite the issues the film has had since its announcement, 21 Jump Street star Channing Tatum believes it can still happen.
The 21 Jump Street and Men in Black crossover film had gotten far enough into development that The Muppets director James Bobin had been attached to direct the project. Of course, as previously mentioned, the project never went much further, and despite Tatum’s belief that it could be revived one day, there are still some obstacles standing in the way.
Tatum, who’s already had his fair share of projects that failed to develop, went on the record saying he believes the movie could still happen if Sony was interested in developing it. Adding more to it, Tatum believes that, even while crossing over with Men In Black is a creative choice that would be completely out of left field, the material is good enough to make for one of the best third installments ever made. “I still think it could work, I really do. And if Sony would ever really, like, I think do the hard work and figure out the producer problems that are inherent with that film, I think we can still do it,” Tatum said during an interview with Collider. “But right now, I don’t know why, they’re just not motivated to do it. It’s a big overhead on that movie, so.”
Tatum added that script for the axed 21 Jump Street and Men in Black crossover is the best for a third sequel in a franchise that he’s read in his entire life, emphasizing that he would not say that if he didn’t truly believe it was true. However, Tatum noted that before the crossover could ever move forward again, a lot of contracts would need to be renegotiated, particularly those of the producers. “There’s [Steven] Spielberg, Neil Moritz, and Walter Parks,” Tatum said. “They’re giant producers, y’know, on that. And then once everybody is kinda like, not willing to come off their fee, you end up having a producer fee that is essentially, maybe more than the actual budget on the movie.”
What made both franchises work to start with was the chemistry between their two original leads. Will Smith’s contrast with Tommy Lee Jones made the first movie blend so well as a sci-fi flick and a buddy cop comedy. Even if the setting is entirely different, Tatum’s chemistry with Jonah Hill also helped the movie pull off a buddy cop movie that was also satirizing life in high school and college. Whether the former two would be in it or not, Tatum and Hill have proven they can make multiple settings work. Why not see what they could do in an extraterrestrial setting?
Clearly, even though their films have been financially prosperous, Sony does not believe those two can pull it off together and would rather focus on other projects. Again, this crossover can be seen as way too outlandish to be pulled off. Going from doing undercover missions in high school and college settings - an entirely normal setting - to alien life can be a little drastic. If Sony doesn’t want to mess with what’s worked in the past, they’re within their right to do so.
Source: Collider
