Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind the acclaimed 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street films, are officially bringing a new installment to the franchise to life. Titled 24 Jump Street, the project is now in development, with Rodney Rothman, co-writer and co-director of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, set to direct. Rothman penned the script for the new film alongside Jonah Hill and Meghan Malloy. Lord and Miller are attached to produce.
The announcement comes 12 years after the release of 22 Jump Street, the R-rated action-comedy sequel that reimagined the late-'80s TV drama. Producer Neil H. Moritz shared a picture of the 24 Jump Street script on Instagram, accompanied by the tagline, "It took so long we had to skip one," directly referencing the franchise's penchant for meta-humor.
The Jump Street series has consistently played with its numbering scheme. The original film's title referred to the police unit's headquarters, while its sequel, 22 Jump Street, saw the operation relocate across the street. The end credits of 22 Jump Street featured a lengthy montage of increasingly absurd future sequels, including video game and animated spinoffs, and a total of 23 planned follow-ups. The decision to jump directly to 24 Jump Street appears to be a deliberate callback to this ongoing gag.
While the specific plot details for 24 Jump Street remain under wraps, the franchise's history suggests a continuation of its comedic and self-referential tone. The original 2012 film starred Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as undercover police officers infiltrating a high school drug ring. The 2014 sequel, 22 Jump Street, sent them back undercover at a college. Given the actors' current ages, it is unlikely the characters will return to a school setting, but the franchise has proven its ability to find humor in unexpected places. It remains to be seen if the new film will directly address the numerous fictional sequels teased in 22 Jump Street, such as "23 Jump Street: Medical School" or "25 Jump Street: A Semester at Sea."