Channing Tatum Says 23 Jump Street x Men in Black Is Dead — Producer Fees and Overhead Blamed
Channing Tatum has said a proposed crossover between the Jump Street movies and Men in Black — often called “23 Jump Street” — is unlikely to happen, citing production overhead and producer fees as the main obstacles.
What Channing Tatum said
While promoting his new film Roofman, Tatum told Variety that he does not expect the crossover to move forward. “I don’t think it’ll ever happen,” he said. Moreover, Tatum added, “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.”
Crossover history and early development
The idea of merging 21 Jump Street with Men in Black first surfaced in public reporting after Sony’s 2014 hack. In fact, the existence of a plan for 23 Jump Street–Men in Black was revealed in the aftermath of Sony’s massive 2014 hack, which made internal emails public. Later coverage connected those emails to early development plans.
In addition, some accounts tied the whole situation back to the fallout from Seth Rogen’s movie. For background, see this Vanity Fair piece on the hack.
By 2016, Variety reported the project was real and moving forward, with James Bobin (director of The Muppets) in talks to direct, and with a production start date circled for that summer. Jonah Hill, in leaked documents, described the crossover idea in enthusiastic terms.
Why the project stalled
According to reporting and statements from those involved, development slowed and then stopped for several reasons. First, Sony later pushed the Men in Black franchise in another direction with Men in Black: International, which released with a different cast. Second, multiple producers were attached to the proposed crossover, which raised overhead and fee negotiations.
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have said the script they saw was strong. Lord recalled parts of the concept, including a visual gag where the black suits function like martial-arts belts and where Tatum and Hill’s characters would wear powder-blue suits as rookie agents. Meanwhile, Miller said, “There was a script that was very funny and very crazy that we really adored,” on the Happy Sad Confused podcast coverage.
Current status and who has tried to keep it alive
Despite the problems, some of the creative team attempted to make the project more affordable. Tatum, Hill, and Lord and Miller reportedly offered to reduce their producer fees to help the budget. However, Tatum pointed to producer Neal H. Moritz’s compensation demands as a major sticking point, saying, “To be honest, that’s what’s killing it.”
Ultimately, the combination of studio direction, producer fees, and previous franchise attempts means the crossover remains unlikely. Still, people involved have not publicly abandoned the idea entirely, and the screenplay that circulated in development has been described by its creators as funny and ambitious.
Fact summary: Tatum publicly said the crossover is unlikely; the plan dates back to leaked Sony emails after the 2014 hack; James Bobin was in talks in 2016; Lord and Miller and Jonah Hill praised the script; budget and producer-fee issues — notably involving Neal H. Moritz — have stalled the project.
