Jonah Hill’s Long-Awaited R-Rated Comedy Sequel Finally Confirmed

By TeeJay Small
| Published 3 seconds ago

Sometimes it feels like the blockbuster comedy has gone the way of Blockbuster video, and we never get any new laugh-riot movies in theaters anymore. Comedy fans have been whining about the lack of fun, lighthearted joke vehicles for years, and yearning for the days of simple chuckle-fests like Step Brothers, The Hangoverand 21 Jump Street. Now, according to Variety, you and all your comedy-loving friends can pump your fists with glee, because 24 Jump Street is officially in the works.

Franchise leads Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and rap legend Ice Cube are each in talks to reprise their roles, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller attached to produce. Jonah Hill also co-authored the screenplay for the film alongside Meghan Malloy, so it seems pretty likely that he’ll agree to return. Rodney Rothman, who co-wrote and co-directed Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse will serve as the film’s director. For now, there’s no word on the plot, but we can assume that it centers on detectives Schmidt and Jenko going undercover in some completely off-the-walls environment.

The Crossover That Never Happened

For those who don’t recall, 21 Jump Street was an absolutely hilarious R-rated buddy cop comedy that released in 2012. The film’s frenetic energy, off-the-walls writing, and top-shelf performances from Hill, Tatum, and Ice Cube made it a genre-defining classic. Then, in 2014, the sequel 22 Jump Street took the insanity even further, cementing the franchise as a go-to theater watch. While fans were more than happy to keep spending money on the film franchise, things kind of stalled out shortly after 22 Jump Street‘s release, thanks to some behind the scenes Hollywood meddling.

23 Jump Street was reportedly meant to crossover with the Men In Black franchise, jumpstarting a comedic cinematic universe of drug dealing teens and undercover extraterrestrials. The script for that film bounced around Hollywood for over a decade, while Sony was busy fumbling Men In Black into relative obscurity. It’s a real shame, because the Jump Street movies obviously had a ton of pull among comedy fans, and Channing Tatum apparently called the crossover script “the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie.”

The Blockbuster Comedy Is Back

Now that it’s been three presidential terms since the last Jump Street film released, most fans had quietly accepted that the fun was over, and returned to their miserable lives. That is, until this week, when producer Neal H. Moritz shared a photo of the 24 Jump Street cover page on social media, thus confirming that the boys are back in town. For now, there’s no word on a production schedule or a projected release date, but comedy fans everywhere are surely frothing at the mouth to learn more.

With any luck, the release of 24 Jump Street could spark a domino effect, leading to a resurgence of blockbuster comedies. If not, it will be worth it just to see our beloved baby-faced idiot cops again, in yet another hilarious misadventure.