After first hitting the radar as a result of the illegal Sony studios hack back in 2014, the idea of a crossover between the worlds of 21 Jump Street and Men In Black coalesced into reality last year when Jump Street co-director Chris Miller started talking it up. Now it appears there's some more movement, as The Muppets' James Bobin is in early talks to direct.
Beyond the fact that Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill have been involved in the film's early development and will be back as Jenko and Schmidt, not much is official yet. On the Men In Black front, however, it appears that the studio is looking to go younger with the casting, replacing Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones with fresh faces. Rodney Rothman, a reliably funny man who wrote 22 Jump Street and has contributed script work to a number of big comedies, has delivered a script for the new movie that has Sony ready to move forward. No official thumbs up has occurred, but the studio is apparently looking to get this one shooting in June.
Bobin, assuming he does take the job, is necessary because Miller and collaborator Phil Lord are too busy on their Han Solo Star Wars stand-alone film to return for this latest twist on the Jump Street universe. Since making both of the new current Muppet movies, Bobin has gone on to direct Alice Through The Looking Glass for Disney, which is out in the UK on May 27.