Sony Pictures seems keen on making thatfemale-centric21 Jump Streetspinoffhappen, even if it takes five writers to get there. The project entered development in Spring 2015 alongside the proposedJump Street/Men in Blackcrossover movie, and Sony subsequently made a promising move in hiringBroad CitywritersLucia AnielloandPaul W. Downsto pen the script. However, a few months later, Sony apparently heard adifferentpitch for the female-centricJump StreetfromBob’s BurgersscribesLizzieandWendy Molyneuxand set them to write their own, separate script at the same time as Aniello and Downs were working on theirs. Called “dual track”, this method of screenwriting has become increasingly common and usually results in the studio bringing in a third writer to Frankenstein the best parts of both scripts into one screenplay. As you can imagine, it doesn’t exactly have the best track record.
That was last summer, and now the project is once again getting a new script, this time courtesy ofRodney Rothman. The comedy scribe got his start as a writer onLate Show with David Lettermanbefore penning some episodes ofUndeclaredand moving into the feature realm withGrudge Matchand, fittingly enough,22 Jump Street. Rothman is the one tasked with scripting theJump Street/Men in Blackcrossover, and Deadline reports that he’s now turned that draft in and has been set to write and potentially direct this female-centric21 Jump Street.
The idea for this spinoff is to focus on two female cops instead ofJonah HillandChanning Tatum’s characters from the first two films, but that’s about all we know at this juncture.
21 Jump Streetworked as well as it did thanks to the eagerness of directorsPhil LordandChris Millerto lean into why the idea for aJump Streetmovie was so ridiculous. They embraced the goofiness of the premise while also commenting on how fast culture changes, going on to use22 Jump Streetas an opportunity to offer a meta-commentary on the repetitive nature of sequels. Both those films felt like tightrope walks, so I’m less enthused about the prospect of aJump Streetmovie without Lord and Miller involved—they’re a little busy at the moment with theYoung Han Solo movie. That said, Rothman served as a producer onPopstar,Get Him to the Greek, andThe Five-Year Engagement, so perhaps he’s got an interesting angle on this female-centric spinoff.
As for theJump Street/Men in Blackcrossover,James Bobin(Alice Through the Looking Glass) has been attached to direct for a while, but Hill himself recently saidhe didn’t think the movie was ever going to happen. It’s admittedly an odd fit, and one that came about from Sony’s eagerness to reboot theMen in Blackfranchise, so that one may be a ways off yet.
