As well-received as “21 Jump Street” was in 2012, it was miraculously surpassed by “22 Jump Street,” one of the only comedy sequels in recent years to be even funnier than the original. “22 Jump Street” not only took the lead duo in fun new directions; this served as a meta-comedy about the sequels as a whole. Its final montage, which presents a series of increasingly absurd sequel ideas, is the perfect icing on the cake.
But even though “22 Jump Street” has joked a lot about its potential sequels, an actual third film has yet to be announced. During a press tour for his new film “Roofman,” Channing Tatum (who plays Jenko) explained to Variety why:
“I get asked more about ‘Jump Street 3’ than any other movie on the planet I’ve ever made. I don’t think it’ll ever happen. The problem is the overhead. It would cost as much as the movie’s actual budget – if not more – because of all the producers involved. It’s just too heavy. It falls over every time.”
Tatum noted that he, co-star Jonah Hill, and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were willing to work for a lower production fee to keep the film’s costs down, but called out one producer, Neal H. Moritz, for refusing to do so. “Neal’s price tag for the production fee is huge,” Tatum said. “And to be honest, that’s what’s killing him.”
This seems like a classic case of short-sighted Hollywood greed. It may make sense at first to want a bigger check from the film, but if his fee prevents the film from happening, Moritz won’t receive any check at all. It’s easy to see why Tatum finds this so frustrating; he read the proposed script for the third film and called it “honestly the best script I’ve ever read for me and Jonah”.
Could a theatrical comedy like 23 Jump Street be profitable in the 2020s?
“21 Jump Street,” with an estimated budget of $42 million, grossed $201 million worldwide in 2012. “22 Jump Street,” with a budget of $50 million, grossed $331 million. These are promising numbers for a potential third film, but they come at a time when low-budget comedies like this don’t work very well. Even the recent revival of “Naked Gun” fell short of pre-release expectations this summer, although it ultimately turned a tidy profit.
In the age of streaming, movies like “21 Jump Street” are typically released directly to streaming services like Netflix or Prime Video. When they get the theatrical release they deserve, like Jennifer Lawrence’s R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” in 2023, they still have a chance to surpass $100 million. “23 Jump Street” has the advantage of being a sequel to two successful films, but it’s unclear whether that’s enough to hold its own in such a hollow modern cinematic landscape.
If comedy films were still as lucrative as they were in 2012, there’s no doubt a third “Jump Street” movie would have been made by now, even with high production costs driving up the budget. Unfortunately, we live in a time where “23 Jump Street” is not at all a guaranteed hit, and a $330 million box office draw seems like a pipe dream. Unless all the producers are willing to take a pay cut, the only way “23 Jump Street” will happen is if audiences start watching mid-budget comedy films more often.
