Sony Plans ‘Men in Black’ – ‘Jump Street’ Crossover

1CK1S · December 2014

Sony Pictures has surprising plans for its “Jump Street” and “Men in Black” franchises: Combining them.

E-mails from the studio’s motion picture chief Amy Pascal leaked onto the Internet this week by hackers reveal that a follow-up to this year’s comedy hit “22 Jump Street” will have cops played by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum interacting with the universe of the sci-comedy franchise “Men in Black,” which previously starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

Details on the movie are scarce, but the e-mails do indicate Messrs. Smith and Jones would not be included in the movie, at least in prominent roles. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the last two “Jump Street” films, are producing the picture and may direct it.

In an e-mail to Ms. Pascal, Mr. Hill says “jump street merging with mib i think that’s clean and rad and powerful.”

In another e-mail, Hannah Minghella, a president of production for Sony’s Columbia Pictures label, says of the joint sequel, “We don’t have a script yet so we’ll be greenlighting the movie off the concept and the talent involved.”

E-mails indicate it is one of the highest profile projects on the studio’s slate and that executives are eager to move ahead with the film as soon as possible. Sony is hoping to release the movie in 2016 or 2017.

A mash-up of franchises is unusual, but could fit the irreverent tone of the “Jump Street” movies. In addition to providing an unexpected follow-up to a hit, Sony executives say in e-mails that they hope the crossover will reinvigorate “Men in Black.” 2012’s “Men in Black 3” grossed $624 million worldwide, but lost money for the studio and did not excite fans for a quick follow-up.

In a letter to Steven Spielberg’s attorney seeking to secure the filmmaker’s participation (Mr. Spielberg was an executive producer of the “Men in Black” films), Sony Pictures president of worldwide business affairs and operations Andrew Gumpert wrote, “We didn’t do as well as we had hoped for on the last MIB film, but that hasn’t caused us to lose faith in the franchise. In reality, the exact opposite has occurred where we all have an opportunity to take an interim step on the way to hopefully forging ahead again in the pure-play MIB universe.”

jee504 · December 2014

yeah they either trolling or just desperate right now

Recaptimus_Prime360 · December 2014

...no.

marc123 · December 2014

Sony Plans ‘Men in Black’ – ‘Jump Street’ Crossover

soul rattler · December 2014

This thread is missing a link from a reputable source.

Ranxx · December 2014

Copper · December 2014

Colin$mackabi$h · December 2014

How the hell?............

dontdiedontkillanyon · December 2014

soul rattler wrote: »

This thread is missing a link from a reputable source.

eyes low · December 2014

I would watch it only if lord and miller are directing those guys are doing some amazing things right now

Phantom Pain · December 2014

Sony needs to quit movies, and focus on PS4.

Maximus Rex · December 2014

soul rattler wrote: »

This thread is missing a link from a reputable source.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/12/10/sony-plans-men-in-black-jump-street-crossover/

The initial came from The Wall Street Journal. Here's another article from The Hollywood Reporter

Sony Discussed Possibility of '21 Jump Street' and 'Men in Black' Crossover Movie

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/sony-discussed-possibility-21-jump-755799

12/10/2014 by Graeme McMillan

In a leaked email, Jonah Hill called the idea "clean and rad and powerful"

'22 Jump Street'

The future of Sony’s 21 Jump Street franchise may be going in a very different direction from the first two movies, according to emails leaked as part of last week’s hacking of Sony Enterprises. Did anyone imagine that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum could be facing off against aliens in the third installment?

Emails from Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal released as part of the leak discuss the possibility of merging the successful comedy franchise with the studio’s Men in Black franchise, last seen in 2012’s Men in Black 3. The Wall Street Journal quotes an email from Hill to Pascal calling the idea “clean and rad and powerful,” although Columbia Pictures production president Hannah Minghella points out that “we don’t have a script yet so we’ll be greenlighting the movie off the concept and the talent involved.”

That talent would include Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed both 2012’s 21 Jump Street and this year’s follow-up, 22 Jump Street and would act as producers on this project should it move forward. According to the emails, neither Will Smith nor Tommy Lee Jones, co-leads of the Men in Black movies to date, would be involved.
The crossover is an idea that has been considered, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, but the project has not been greenlighted.

Should the crossover go ahead, it would not only represent an unexpected turn toward genre for the Jump Street series (although, really, how much fun could be had by turning that franchise into a modern-day Abbott and Costello Meet …?), but also the laying of the groundwork for a shared movie universe for the studio, a la the successful Marvel Studios model.

While Sony is working to expand its Spider-Man license into a multi-series franchise, this secondary crossover might be considered insurance should the studio ever lose the web-slinger back to Marvel. (It’s worth noting that, technically, Men in Black is also a Marvel property, having been created and published by Malibu Studios, which was purchased by Marvel in the mid-’90s.)

Damn, I need to work for Sony. I have a lot of wack ass ideas that need to be shared with the masses.