Sony revives its hit comedy franchise with a third film. Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Ice Cube are in talks to return, but the title has taken an unexpected leap forward.
24 Jump Street is in the works
The studio has officially announced 24 Jump Street, skipping the logical numerical progression entirely, Variety reported. This Jump Street movie revives a property that has been dormant for over a decade, bringing back the core creative team behind two of the highest-grossing R-rated comedies of the past 20 years.
The numerical gap is not random. It ties to the closing sequence of 22 Jump Street, a rapid-fire montage that imagined Schmidt and Jenko infiltrating medical school, culinary school, dance school, a firefighter academy, a seminary, and eventually heading into space. That fake sequel reel effectively satirized Hollywood franchise excess while serving as a fictional 23 Jump Street. Naming the new film 24 Jump Street continues that joke.
Rodney Rothman, a writer on 22 Jump Street, will helm the project. He wrote the script alongside Hill and Meghan Malloy. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the original films, return as producers alongside Neal H. Moritz. Tatum and Reid Carolin will produce for Free Association, while Hill and Matt Dines produce through their Strong Baby banner. Moritz also posted a photo of the script on Instagram and wrote, “A picture says a thousand words.”
The original 21 Jump Street was released in 2012, casting Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as Schmidt and Jenko. The two ineffective police officers were sent undercover at a local high school. Its 2014 sequel moved the undercover operation to college and succeeded at the box office better than the previous one. Both films succeeded by mocking their own existence as a reboot of the 1980s television series starring Johnny Depp.
A third part has languished in development for years. Tatum once called the script for a previously planned version titled 23 Jump Street the “best” he had ever read for a third film (via Comic Book Movie). Now, the 24 Jump Street release date is yet to be announced.
