After successfully breathing new life into the Bad Boys franchise, Sony Pictures has turned its attention back to the Men In Black.
According to Deadline, the studio is developing a new MIB movie (it sounds like it'll be a sequel as opposed to a full reboot), with Bad Boys For Life writer Chris Bremner on board to pen the script.
Though no talent is attached just yet, the report notes that "once Bremner has finished the script, original series star Will Smith would be one of the first to receive it in hopes he would reprise the role of Agent Jay."
Whether Smith would star or play more of a mentor role for a new group of characters is not clear, but Deadline seems pretty sure that the plan is to include Jay in the first draft.
Smith actually hinted that he might be interested in donning the black suit and shades again earlier this year.
“I told myself I was done with sequels. I was like, ‘I’ve made enough sequels. I got some new things I want to make,'” he said. “Literally this morning, an hour before I came down here, they just threw the bag for another Men in Black. I was like, ‘Ah, I’m supposed to be going on tour this summer!'”
“Sony is determined to fix the flaws of Men in Black: International,” a recent Insider Fandom report claimed. “After the debacle of the 2019 movie, Sony has learned their lesson, and now they are keen to bring in Will Smith for the upcoming movie. The executives believe that Will Smith’s exclusion was one of the major reasons for the poor response to the last movie.”
1997's Men in Black was a big critical and commercial hit, and while the next two sequels did pretty well from a box office standpoint, the reviews weren't nearly as favourable. 2019's relaunch starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, Men in Black: International, performed well enough, but was largely viewed as a disappointment due to terrible reviews.
What do you make of this news? Any interest in a new Men in Black movie?
Working for a highly funded yet unofficial government agency, Kay and Jay are the Men in Black, providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on Earth. While investigating a series of unregistered close encounters, the MIB agents uncover the deadly plot of an intergalactic terrorist who is on a mission to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies currently in residence in New York City.