Say something cool, something like, 24 Jump Street is officially in the works with original franchise stars Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube eyeing a comeback.
Variety broke that incredibly cool news on 10 June, and it ends a decade-long saga of developmental delay.
What do we know about ‘24 Jump Street’?
First off, why is this upcoming film called 24 Jump Street, given the fact that its two predecessors were 2012’s 21 Jump Street and 2014’s 22 Jump Street?
Well, the tagline seen on the 24 Jump Street screenplay that has been blasted across social media reads, ‘It took so long to make we had to skip one’.
Delightful!
Producer Neal H. Moritz shared the screenplay with the Instagram caption, “A Picture Says a Thousand Words”, and producing duties are shared with Tatum, Reid Carolin, Hill and Matt Dimes.
Also serving as producers are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed the first two instalments.
They’ve handed the directing baton over to Rodney Rothman, who helmed 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which Lord and Miller produced.
Rothman has written the 24 Jump Street screenplay with Hill and Meghan Malloy.
This news comes 12 years after the last film, and during this time, a now-scrapped Jump Street/Men In Black crossover was dubbed the “best script I’ve ever read” by Tatum.
What are the ‘Jump Street’ films about?
21 Jump Street was based on a 1980s television series of the same name that starred a young Johnny Depp.
The basic premise is about fresh-faced police officers who can pass as high schoolers while undercover.
Hill and Tatum, as calamitous cops Schmidt and Jenko, under the intense gaze of Captain Dickson, just about bust up a high school drug ring in 2012’s 21 Jump Street.
Two years later, the dream team was back to take on college in 22 Jump Street, which ended wth a credits gag reel of endless sequels and spin-offs.
The two films grossed a combined $534 million worldwide.
What made these films so special?
The Jump Street films hit the mark so well, thanks to the incredible comedic chemistry shared by Hill and Tatum.
Ice Cube’s trademark on-screen rage plays off their aloof goofiness perfectly, and the scripts knew just how ridiculous the premise was.
That’s why 22 Jump Street constantly played on the fact that sequels are just the same as what’s gone before, but bigger.
This self-aware nature, plus amazing gags and set-pieces like “My name’s Jeff” and Schmidt’s slam poetry, are why these films have lived long in the memory of fans.
So thank the maker that a follow-up is finally happening.
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