MEN IN BLACK Director Barry Sonnenfeld Explains Why He Won't Ever Return To The Franchise (Exclusive)

MEN IN BLACK Director Barry Sonnenfeld Explains Why He Won't Ever Return To The Franchise (Exclusive)

Men in Black: International failed to strike a chord with moviegoers back in 2019, and the original trilogy's director, Barry Sonnenfeld, has now explained why he's done returning to the beloved franchise.

By JoshWilding - Oct 18, 2021 03:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Men in Black

The Men in Black franchise has never really managed to recapture the greatness of that original movie. However, the third instalment definitely received a warmer response than the second, even after swapping out Tommy Lee Jones for Josh Brolin (who did a great job as a younger Agent K). 

Men in Black: International was a modest success at the box office in 2019 and rebooted the franchise with Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Unfortunately, it never really clicked, and the franchise has been left in limbo since as even the mooted Jump Street crossover is now a distant memory.

We recently spoke to the director of those first few movies, Barry Sonnenfeld, about The Addams Family arriving on Digital 4K Ultra HD for the first time on October 19 with both the theatrical version and a new extended cut (it drops on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Remastered Blu-ray on November 9), but we also had to ask the filmmaker if there's any chance he'll now return to Men in Black.

"No, I’m done with the Men in Black thing as I’m sure Tommy and Will are too," Sonnenfeld confirmed. "They were too hard. It was too much and there were too many issues making those shows. We never agreed upon scripts with the producers and it just became less and less fun. What’s funny is that F. Gary Grey not only directed Men in Black: International, but he also directed Be Cool which was a sequel to Get Shorty. I joke that F. Gary Grey is sort of like my sequel director."

Later in the interview (which we'll be bringing you a little later this week), the director added: "I don’t know why I even did Men in Black 3. At some point, you just don’t want to keep going back to that same well." It's a fair point, and it does feel like it might be best to shelve the franchise for now...on the big screen, anyway. Why we haven't had a TV version yet is actually pretty hard to say. 

Find out what Sonnenfeld had to tell us about DC's Metal Men movie by clicking right here
 

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TheLobster
TheLobster - 10/18/2021, 3:01 PM
Honestly, the sequels should have never happened. The original is a classic and the rest is mixed at best.
heyy1
heyy1 - 10/18/2021, 3:19 PM
@TheLobster - idk, 2 & 3 were pretty fire.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 10/18/2021, 3:26 PM
@TheLobster - 2 is terrible, 3 was okay as they gave more depth to Agent J but that whole multi-verse or time concept was trash and confusing.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/18/2021, 3:36 PM
@TheLobster - I love the first one. 2nd was okay. And I was done after that. Never had any interest in seeing the others.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 10/18/2021, 4:23 PM
@heyy1 - ehhhhh 2 sucked for the most part and 3 had some redeeming qualities but still doesn’t hold a candle to the original.
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 10/18/2021, 8:34 PM
@heyy1 - 3 is the best one
Saga
Saga - 10/18/2021, 3:03 PM
The latest one was beyond [frick]ing terrible, replace a fun fresh dynamic with generic pretty leads and only rehash ideas from the past. Would have prefered that Jump street crossover
Origame
Origame - 10/18/2021, 3:04 PM
God was international awful.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 10/18/2021, 3:09 PM
@Origame - so lame. Both main actors were charisma vacuums
KWilly
KWilly - 10/18/2021, 3:04 PM
Always thought we should've had a new MIB animated show. Put it on Netflix or something.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 10/18/2021, 3:06 PM
"I don’t know why I even did Men in Black 3.

Neither do we.
Menks123
Menks123 - 10/18/2021, 3:09 PM
God I loved the original so damn much, absolute classic.

I feel like International was alright, Hemsworth and Thompson were a great duo to revive it but it just lacked that charm the original had.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 10/18/2021, 3:09 PM
Shame that he didn't have the best time making them.
Josh Brolin was a real highlight in the third movie, and the dramatic twist at the end was handled well; nice sad moment.
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 10/18/2021, 3:13 PM
Brolin was uncanny, eerie, as agent… which one is he? I confuse J and K
WaffeX
WaffeX - 10/18/2021, 3:21 PM
dracula
dracula - 10/18/2021, 3:26 PM
@WaffeX -

Herman looks perfect

Lily looks like Morticia with some white in her hair

Grandpa looks alright but kind of went overboard on the hair and mustache
TheWalkingCuban
TheWalkingCuban - 10/18/2021, 4:08 PM
@WaffeX - if it has some old style humor like Wandavision would be cool
dancingmonkey08
dancingmonkey08 - 10/18/2021, 3:25 PM
MIB 2 was the first one rehashed, but I actually liked MIB III, Josh Brolin as young K, Will Smith doing his usual thing, and quite a great ending with Tommy and Will:

International was an utter mistake though, all the goddamn talent in this movie and it ended up like that
dracula
dracula - 10/18/2021, 3:27 PM
Would MIB23 have been worst than International

(The 21 Jump Street crossover)
dracula
dracula - 10/18/2021, 3:28 PM
The only series where Will Smith comes back
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