It was one of the most successful comedy franchises of the past decade - and now the cops are back: Sony Pictures is developing "24 Jump Street", the next installment of the franchise about undercover investigators Schmidt and Jenko. As the "Hollywood Reporter" reports, Jonah Hill (42), Channing Tatum (46), and Ice Cube (56) are in negotiations to reprise their roles.
Rodney Rothman will direct and also wrote the screenplay together with Hill and Meghan Malloy. Rothman is no stranger to this universe - he was already involved in the script for "22 Jump Street" and later won an Oscar for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum among the producers
Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who brought the first two installments to the big screen in 2012 and 2014, are joining this time as producers. Alongside them: Neal H. Moritz as an additional producer, as well as Hill with his partner Matt Dines from Strong Baby Productions and Tatum together with Reid Carolin from Free Association.
Nothing is known yet about the plot of the new film. However, the title is already noteworthy: The numbering jumps directly from 22 to 24 - 23 is skipped. Producer Moritz posted a photo of the script's title page on Instagram, with a laconic explanation below: "Production took so long that we had to skip a part."
From high school to cinema legend
The franchise has a remarkable history behind it. The first "21 Jump Street" (2012) earned more than 200 million dollars worldwide. The sequel "22 Jump Street" (2014), in which the duo this time works as undercover investigators at a college, went even further: 331 million dollars worldwide.
Both films are based on the television series of the same name, which premiered on the US network Fox in 1987 and ran for five seasons. In the TV original, Johnny Depp played one of the main roles - in the first film version, he had a cameo appearance.
Channing Tatum was already promoting the project in 2024
For a long time, no one expected a third film installment to come at all. In between, there was even talk of a crossover with the "Men in Black" franchise - but the project fizzled out. Then, in 2024, Channing Tatum suddenly gave hope: He reported that a script had long existed and raved about it in the highest terms. "I'd love to see '23 Jump Street'. I'd love to do it with Jonah, and I know Jonah wants to do it too", he told the trade magazine at the time. "We'd just love to play together again."
This has now become - one year late and with a skipped number - "24 Jump Street". Nothing is known yet about the theatrical release date.
