One of the memorable jokes at the end of this year’s 22 Jump Street was a montage of potential sequel posters playing off the franchise title and featuring stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in a variety of ridiculous settings (i.e., “25 Jump Street: A Semester At Sea”). The joke’s on us, though, as another sequel is indeed in the works.
Deadline reports that 22 Jump Street co-writer Rodney Rothman has been tasked with penning the next installment of the franchise, 23 Jump Street. Rothman co-wrote the second film for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed the first two installments of the franchise but have yet to commit to directing the third film. Lord and Miller will serve as producers on the third film with Hill, Tatum, and Neal Moritz, however.
While nothing is certain about where the third film will take detectives Morton Schmidt (Hill) and Greg Jenko (Tatum), the second film ended with their boss, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), telling them that they were headed to medical school.
With the first film earning more than $201 million on a $42 million budget and the second film raking in more than $319 million on a $50 million budget, a third adventure with Tatum and Hill’s odd-couple cops was a certainty, and it will be interesting to see if the third film — often the breaking point for franchises — can keep up that impressive pace at the box office.