As far as we’re concerned, directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller are three for three on their high profile projects, as both their television series Clone High (R.I.P.) and their two feature films (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street) are hilarious, clever, and scarily watchable entertainment diversions. Now the pair is attached to helm their very first sequel to their funniest film yet (sorry, Cloudy fans), as the pair are reportedly back in the saddle for 21 Jump Street 2: More Jumpier (perhaps not the actual title).
When the sequel got finalized back in July, we only knew a few scattered facts – like that star Jonah Hill and screenwriter Michael Bacall were set to draft a new screenplay, that Channing Tatum and Hill would return to star, and that it would send the boys to college – and now we’ve got lots more to get excited about when it comes to this project (seriously, who knew we’d all be salivating for a sequel to a modern reboot of an ’80s TV show). In a delightfully comprehensive interview with Neal Mortiz over at Collider, the producer spilled a ton of details about the upcoming sequel and, as is often rare with this type of thing, they all sound awesome.
The film, which will arrive in theaters next year, will indeed center on Tatum and Hill going undercover at a college, as Moritz shares: “It leads off where we ended the last film and our guys are going to college. Now, I can’t tell you more than that because there’s some fun to be had in what college they’re going to and what’s going to happen. It really just starts there.”
Moritz also sagely shares that everyone involved in the sequel is cognizant of what made 21 Jump Street so wonderful – the unexpectedly perfect relationship between Tatum and Hill – and that they will very much be continuing to develop that for the next film. Mortiz told Collider, “The relationship developed quite a bit in the first movie and now we’re kind of in the marriage phase between the two guys. Now they’re actual partners, so they’re married – what happens once marriage starts? In certain ways, it’s kind of like the Seven Year Itch of police buddy comedies. What worked so well about the first one was – it was funny, yes, there was good action, yes – but really what worked more than anything was that there was great heart. That’s the thing we’ve been working really hard on, just try and make sure that the heart of the first one is there for the second one.”
But what about cameos and other returning stars? Moritz shares that Ice Cube will return as the boys’ tough-talking boss, and there will definitely be more fun cameos to enjoy (and, you know, not spoil).
21 Jump Street 2 is set to start filming this autumn in hopes of a summer release date.
Related Topics: Channing Tatum
