Channing Tatum has revealed a script for a wild 21 Jump Street and Men in Black crossover was written, but it's highly unlikely we'll ever get to see it.
Tatum and Jonah Hill have both had enviable careers that almost any actor around would be happy with.
Jonah Hill may now be in the headlines for his surprising body transformation for his latest role, but the actor has been nominated for two different Oscars for Wolf of Wall Street and Moneyball.
Channing Tatum meanwhile isn't having quite as good a time after yesterday sharing a pretty horrific injury on Instagram after 'separating his shoulder', but is already being talked about as an early Supporting Actor contender for next year's Oscars.
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Despite this huge success though, both Tatum and Hill are still best known for the Jump Street franchise.
Tatum has shared in the past that 23 Jump Street is far and away the film he is asked about most – and has confirmed he and Hill are both on board – but has also spoken about why it likely won’t happen.
A North Korean hack exposed that 23 Jump Street at one point was going to be a Men in Black crossover
In 2014, Sony was hacked, with the US accusing North Korea of carrying it out over Seth Rogen and James Franco film The Interview.
They released numerous secret documents and email exchanges, looking to embarrass the company who produced the film about a secret CIA mission to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
Part of this hack was that it exposed a pitch for 23 Jump Street which would see Hill and Tatum’s Jenko and Schmidt become recruits in the world of Men in Black.
Hill praised the idea in a leaked email, calling it ‘clean and rad and powerful’.
Tatum later spoke to Comicbook.com in 2024 about the concept, saying a script was written for it. He said: “There is a project that was written and it’s still the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie.”
Despite how obviously a slam dunk the concept sounds though, it is very unlikely we will ever see it.
Channing Tatum has spoken out about why 23 Jump Street will likely never happen
The Magic Mike actor spoke about the film during the press run for Roofman, but unfortunately revealed the reason it’s very unlikely to happen.
The actor told Variety last year: “I don’t think it’ll ever happen. The problem is the overhead.
“It would cost as much as the actual budget of the film — if not more — because of all the producers involved. It’s just too top-heavy. It falls over every time.”
Tatum stated that he, Jonah Hill, and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have all agreed to smaller producers' fees, but the issue lies with producer Neal H. Moritz’s compensation. He added: “Neal’s price for a producer fee is huge and to be honest, that’s what’s killing it.”
This shouldn’t be a huge surprise, as Neal is one of the highest-grossing and most successful producers of all time, with over $12 billion grossed, having been one of the names behind the Fast and Furious franchise as well as the two Jump Street films.
Topics: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, TV and Film, Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin