“21 Jump Street,” starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, arrived in theaters on this day back in 2012.
The movie was based on the TV series of the same name that ran from 1987 to 1991 and launched Johnny Depp to stardom.
While the TV series took a more serious approach to the concept of young police officers going undercover as teenagers in high school, the movie went absolutely wild with comedy.
Tatum starred as Jenko, the more jock/popular type in high school that became a police officer, and Hill as Schmidt, the nerdier/less popular kind of guy who also joined the force.
They formed an unlikely dynamic duo, creating a hit comedy that was self-aware, raunchy as all get out, and screamingly funny.
The film earned over $200 million at the box office and spawned a sequel, “22 Jump Street,” in 2014, which took things even further.
The credits of the movie teased dozens of sequel ideas, including a crossover with “Men In Black” that almost came to life.
“There is a project that was written and it’s still the best script that I’ve ever read for a third movie,” Tatum told ComicBook.com in 2024.
Tatum was being interviewed at the time with his “Fly Me to the Moon” co-star Scarlett Johansson, who asked what happened to the project.
“It’s just a lot of bureaucracy, kind of above the line stuff,” Tatum replied. “It’s really hard to get it made and we’ve been trying to get it done.”
Still, Tatum held out hope for the sequel, saying, “You know what, I’m going to put some good juju out there and I’m going to say I would love to see ‘23 Jump Street.’ I would love to do it with Jonah, and Jonah I know wants to do it. We would love to just get to go play again.”
According to Time, the crossover would have followed Tatum and Hill’s characters joining the alien managing government agency.
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