MIB 23 (James Bobin Directing)

The surprise may have been ruined in Sony’s hack fiasco last year, but insiders tell Variety the studio is indeed planning a “23 Jump Street”-“Men in Black” crossover movie.

According to sources, James Bobin, director of “The Muppets” and “Flight of the Conchords,” is in early talks to direct the action comedy. While no official greenlight has been given, Sony is already eyeing a June production start date.

A spokesman for the studio had no comment.

Bobin will be stepping in for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the first two pics but are unable to direct the crossover due to their commitment to the “Han Solo” pic they’re helming at Disney. Lord and Miller are still on as producers along with Neil Moritz, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald of Parkes+MacDonald.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will return to reprise their roles as Jenko and Schmidt, respectively. The two are also producing. As for Agent Jay and Agent Kay, execs have already made it clear Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will not be reprising the roles they made famous as the studio looks to use this film to relaunch the franchise with younger, fresher faces.

With that summer right around the corner, these roles are likely to become two of the most coveted roles in town given the A-list talents the actors would be replacing.

The idea of intertwining both franchises into one film came to light during the Sony hack crisis in the winter of 2014 when a leaked email from former co-chair Amy Pascal surfaced, containing information regarding Hill’s involvement in the hybrid.

While there was criticism over social media about the idea, Sony still decided to move forward with it, setting Rodney Rothman to pen the script. Sources now say Rothman has delivered the script and the studio is pleased with it.

Plot details are under lock and key, with only a few copies of the script available; most people have to drive to the studio to read the script if they have any interest in pitching their client to direct.

While several directors met for the gig, sources say Bobin has been a favorite for some time. Bobin cut his teeth as one of the exec producers and directors on HBO series “Flight of the Conchords” before landing “The Muppets” movie at Disney.

Rusty Cunt wrote:Joining these worlds makes no fucking sense, and without Will and/or Tommy, it makes even less sense ... what's the fucking point?

A 23 Jump Street will make coin on it's own. I'd wager it would cost less and make more than an MIB crossover.

They can use the success of Jenko and Schmidt to relaunch the MIB with two more young guns before they return them each to their own franchises.

But I had been looking forward to the 23 they promised me.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Same here, I would too. Medical School could actually work and lots of opportunities of making jokes there. This whole thing is just so stupid. I want this to tank badly should it ever get made but I also don't want to see Jump Street suffer from this horrible idea of a crossover.

UltimateMarvel wrote:It's still stupid and will continue to be so until trailer proves otherwise.

Well, this came together nicely. During an interview today with Collider’s own Steven Weintraub for the upcoming Alice in Wonderland sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, James Bobin said that he is, indeed, set to direct MIB 23, the anticipated crossover film between 23 Jump Street and Men in Black that was announced not all that long ago. Of course, we had word of this back in March, but the Muppets director had yet to definitely say that he was on board with the project until today.

As we reported in April, the film will be officially titled MIB 23, and Bobin says that he is set to begin shooting the crossover film later this year. Not only is this great news for fans of both franchises, which I would count myself in despite having to sit through MIB 3, it’s a perfect match of tone. Bobin has done most of his major work with The Muppets films, and both entries in that revitalized franchise have proven to be equally fun and funny. The main goal of both Men in Black and 21 Jump Street has been to generate laugh and, occasionally, wonder, and that seems to be part of Bobin’s admirable resume thus far.

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What we can expect from the narrative of the crossover is still up in the air, but it really shouldn’t matter all that much at the end of the day. These movies are not particularly interested in narrative cohesion, but rather, as I said, making as many guffaws land as possible within two hours or so. There’s no clear word yet as to who will be included in Bobin’s creative team, but if performers like Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Will Smith are in, that says quite a lot (in the positive column) about both the fiscal potential, and the possibility for great humor, for this crossover. Officially, none of them have yet to sign on for the crossover, but the likelihood of both Hill and Tatum joining the project, at the very least, seems pretty high at this point. For his part, Bobin seems like the perfect man to bring it all home in a jangling, purposefully absurd package.