Summary
- 23 Jump Street was canceled despite the success of the first two movies and the potential for numerous sequel possibilities.
- The idea of a crossover with the Men in Black franchise, titled MiB 23, was leaked during the Sony hack but struggled to move past the development stage.
- The ambitious nature of the crossover may have been too much, as Jonah Hill believed it was too high stakes and could have ruined the comedic nature of both franchises.
Despite the huge success and acclaim of the first two movies in the comedy franchise, the third Jump Street movie, 23 Jump Street, appears to have been canceled. There were not many people who thought it would be a good idea to reboot the 1980s TV show about undercover cops in high school into a comedy, but 21 Jump Street was a surprise hit and the sequel took the action to college. The movies played into how ridiculous their plots were and embraced their meta-humor. They were both huge box office hits, with 22 Jump Street grossing over $330 million (via Box Office Mojo), so it came as a surprise that 23 Jump Street never happened.
The novelty of throwing Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) into any kind of educational environment lends itself to tons of sequel possibilities, and the idea was even joked about at the end of the second movie. 22 Jump Street teased 25 sequels, such as 23 Jump Street: Medical School and 27 Jump Street: Culinary School, but none of them were a real possibility for the follow-up. Instead, Sony began developing a crossover with the Men in Black franchise titled MiB 23. Unfortunately, the ambitious endeavor never came to be.
21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street are both available on Hulu.
Why 23 Jump Street Was Scrapped
News Of The Planned Crossover Came During The Sony Hack
During the infamous Sony hack in November 2014, the idea for the next installment of the 21 Jump Street franchise was leaked, revealing that the studio wanted to mash it up with the next movie in the Men in Black franchise. Once the idea was out in the world, expectations became high for the crossover. Given that 22 Jump Street made more money than the original, Sony should have just fast-tracked another quick sequel into production, but they aimed to go bigger. Unfortunately, 23 Jump Street, a.k.a. MiB 23, struggled to get past the development stage, and the attached director, James Bobin, moved on to other projects.
Related
Men In Black 5: Will It Happen? Everything We Know
The Men in Black franchise stumbled after Men in Black: International underperformed. Will there be a Men in Black 5 movie, and who will star?
Was The Jump Street & Men In Black Crossover Too Ambitious?
The Failed Fourth Men In Black Movie May Have Ended The Planned Crossover For Good
Jonah Hill believed the Jump Street and Men in Black crossover plan was too ambitious, telling the Toronto Sun, "It’s almost become what we were making fun of, and it’s hard to maintain that joke when it’s so high stakes.” Hill may have a point at their overly comedic take on a big franchise was reportedly behind why MiB 23 producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller lost directorial control of Solo: A Star Wars Story. However, the Men in Black franchise is completely different and lends itself to a wacky comedy franchise like Jump Street. As both properties involve buddy-cop scenarios, it's easy to see the latter's Jenko and Schmidt replace the former's J and K.
Considering the Jump Street film series parodied franchises turning into endless cycles of sequels and reboots at the end of its own second installment, releasing a third movie could ruin the joke or come off as hypocritical. At the same time, the crossover would've perfectly played into the meta themes of the franchise and set up some classic Jump Street gags. After all, it was already a reboot, adapted from the 21 Jump Street TV series starring Johnny Depp. Given the disappointment of the 2019 Men in Black spinoff Men in Black: International, though, Sony was better off playing things safe and canceling the overly ambitious 23 Jump Street crossover.
22 Jump Street
R
Comedy
Action
Crime
The sequel to 21 Jump Street (which was based on the TV series of the same name), 22 Jump Street sees Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum reprise their roles as Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko respectively. As both best friends and partners in the police force, Schmidt and Jenko have found success in undercover operations. When a new drug surfaces at a college, the pair go undercover once more to locate the supplier.
- Release Date
- June 5, 2014
- Director
- Phil Lord , Chris Miller
- Cast
- Jonah Hill , Channing Tatum , Peter Stormare , Wyatt Russell , Amber Stevens , Jillian Bell
- Runtime
- 1h 52m
- Writers
- Michael Bacall , Oren Uziel , Rodney Rothman , Jonah Hill , Patrick Hasburgh , Stephen J. Cannell
- Budget
- 84.5 million
- Studio(s)
- Columbia Pictures , Sony , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Distributor(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Sony
- prequel(s)
- 21 Jump Street
- Franchise(s)
- 21 Jump Street
