Sony Hires Oren Uziel To Write ‘Men In Black 4’ And Rewrite ‘21 Jump Street 2’
When a movie can gross $625 million internationally and be largely forgotten, it must have been a hell of a summer. Last year, Sony released the third film in their hitMen in Blackfranchise,MIB 3. TheWill Smith/Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Brolinsci-fi comedy was generally well-liked and did well for the studio, but thanks to films likeThe AvengersandThe Dark Knight Rises, very few people have gone on to discuss it since.
They’ve been discussing it at Sony, though, and today it was revealed the studio has hired a writer to pen the fourth film.Oren Uziel, who wrote next year’s releaseThe Kitchen Sink, has been hired to writeMen in Black 4. He’s also been brought in to rewrite21 Jump Street 2,which already has a release date of June 29, 2025. Read more below.
The Wrapbroke the news of Uziel’s hiring on both projects.
This news means a bunch of things. First it, it demonstrates a certain confidence inThe Kitchen Sink,an alien invasion filmfeaturing a human, zombie and vampire defending the world. Uziel’s script made it onto the 2010 Black List and the film, with directorRobbie Pickering, is currently slotted for Halloween 2014.
Second it means Uziel’s idea forMen in Black 4is something Sony responded to in a big way.A few months back, an executive said the following about a fourthMIB:
We believe it is an ongoing franchise. We’re going to do [another one], but we don’t have clarity yet on how it should be done.
It seems likely that clarity came in the form of Uziel’s pitch, which would most definitely feature the return ofWill Smith.
And finally, the idea that he’s rewriting21 Jump Street 2is potentially disconcerting.Jonah HillandMichael Bacallhad been working on a sequel in various stages for years and we all assumed, with a release date in place, the script was up to snuff. Usually a rewrite suggests a script needs work but, in this case,The Wrapsays Uziel was hired because directorsPhil LordandChris Millerare too busy finishingThe Lego Movieto work on the script themselves. That makes a whole lot of sense with their incredibly busy schedule.
What do you make of all this news?
