Why 23 Jump Street Never Happened, Explained

Table of Content show

1 Summary

2 The Men in Black Crossover Collapsed

3 Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum Have Moved on From the Franchise

3.1 These Are the Best Movies Made From TV Shows

4 Phil Lord and Chris Miller Have Too Many Other Projects

5 There’s Still Hope for the Jump Street Franchise

5.1 Channing Tatum’s Funniest Roles of the 2010s

Summary

• 21 Jump Street & 22 Jump Street had strong box office performances & Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum’s comedic chemistry was a highlight.
• Plans for Men in Black crossover film, MIB 23, fell through due to obstacles like career divergence & time passing for Hill and Tatum.
• Discussions of third Jump Street film have stagnated due to various factors, but the possibility of a female-led spinoff continues to be explored.

The 2012 action comedy film 21 Jump Street grossed over $200 million at the worldwide box office against a production cost of $50 million. Moreover, the strong comedic chemistry that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum demonstrate in the film, in which Tatum and Hill play police officers who pose as high school students to bust a drug ring, is so strong that this seemed to herald a long life for the franchise and screen pairing.

Indeed, the 2014 sequel, 22 Jump Street, in which Tatum and Hill’s cop characters pose as college students, grossed more than $330 million at the worldwide box office and was one of the most profitable films of 2014. Given the sequel’s greatly increased box-office performance, a third Jump Street film, 23 Jump Street, seemed like a certainty. However, the development and momentum for a third Jump Street film has subsequently languished over the past decade due to various factors, including divergent careers, financial entanglements, and the swift passage of time.

The Men in Black Crossover Collapsed

After 22 Jump Street became one of the most profitable films of 2014, the film’s distributor, Sony, immediately initiated the development of a third Jump Street film, which was eventually revealed, through the Sony hack, to be a crossover film with Sony’s Men in Black film series. In early 2016, James Bobin was hired to direct the Men in Black crossover film, titled MIB 23.

However, various obstacles emerged throughout 2016. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the creative duo who jointly directed the Jump Street films, became variously attached to direct The Flashand Star Wars: A Solo Story, while Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill were set on realizing their own distinct creative ambitions.

In late 2017, Sony announced that the Men in Black franchise would instead continue with Men in Black: International, the fourth installment in the Men in Black film series, which was released in 2019 to a lackluster commercial and critical reception. The film’s disappointing box-office performance stalled the development of MIB 23.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum Have Moved on From the Franchise

Jonah Hill was 28 years old when 21 Jump Street was released in 2012, while Channing Tatum was 31. Hill and Tatum were seemingly of the perfect age and appearance to play overage college and high school students for maximum comedic effect in 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street. However, now that Hill and Tatum are both in their 40s, the ages and identities of the characters whom Hill and Tatum could play in a third Jump Street are obviously much more limited than they would have been if a third film had been made several years ago.

Moreover, the career trajectories of Hill and Tatum have veered away from star-driven roles over the past decade. After starring in the 2016 crime film War Dogs, Hill increasingly focused on directing and writing. In 2018, Hill made his feature directorial debut with the comedy-drama film Mid90s, for which Hill, who also wrote the film, received positive reviews. For Tatum, the 2017 comedy heist film Logan Lucky marked Tatum’s last starring role in a live-action film until the 2022 comedy-drama film Dog, which Tatum directed with production partner Reid Carolin. Like Hill’s feature directorial debut, Hill received positive reviews for his direction of Dog, which was also a box-office success.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller Have Too Many Other Projects

Phil Lord and Chris Miller made their live-action directorial debut with 21 Jump Street after the duo made the 2009 animated comedy film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Following 22 Jump Street, the duo has had great success with producing and writing various other film and television projects, most notably the Spider-Verse film series.

Moreover, while Lord and Miller have continued to work with Sony, the duo is also attached to Universal Pictures, with which the duo signed a first-look production deal in 2019. Given that Universal is the Hollywood studio that most specializes in R-rated comedy films, it’s hard to imagine that Universal would be keen to allow Lord and Miller to direct another R-rated comedy film for a rival studio.

There’s Still Hope for the Jump Street Franchise

While various circumstances have made it increasingly difficult for a third Jump Street film to be made under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller and with the starring tandem of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, there’s still hope for the continuation of the franchise, specifically in terms of a female Jump Street spin-off film.

In 2014, Sony hired Rodney Rothman to write a screenplay for a female-driven Jump Street spin-off film. In 2018, Tiffany Haddish was cast as the lead in the would-be film, which was revealed in 2020 to be titled Jump Street: Now For Her Pleasure. In 2023, the female Jump Street spin-off film was revealed to be in development with Brie Larson set to star as Molly Tracey, the character whom Larson plays in the 2012 film.

However, Hill and Tatum could still return for a third Jump Street film, with or without Lord and Miller. Tatum has recently expressed great enthusiasm for the long-gestating MIB 23 script and said that financial entanglements related to producer fees are currently the biggest obstacle to the crossover film finally becoming a reality.