Taking the bare bones of the concept that saw 21 Jump Street become a hugely popular teen-orientated procedural when it first aired between 1987 and 1991 and reinventing it as the basis for two hilarious, whip-smart and self-aware movies was an inspired move by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The beloved films starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum comfortably rank among the finest studio comedies of the last decade, raking in over half a billion dollars at the box office and going down well with both fans and critics alike.
After the fantastically inventive end credits of 22 Jump Street were made official canon, it initially felt as though we wouldn’t have to wait too long to see the inevitable threequel. There was even the tantalizing prospect of a Men in Black crossover in MiB 23, which had the potential to be something truly spectacular, but instead the nascent franchise found itself placed on the back burner.
Hill and Tatum have since moved on without showing much interest in ever playing Schmidt and Jenko again, while a female-driven spinoff set to star Tiffany Haddish and Awkwafina also stagnated. However, the recently renamed Jump Street: Now for Her Pleasure has roared back into life with Deadpool 3 writers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin tackling the latest version of the script, and insider Daniel Richtman now claims that Johnny Depp is actively touting his services for the next adventure.
“Depp wants in [on] the 21 Jump Street female led reboot,” he says.
There’s no word on whether Haddish or Awkwafina are still involved, but a raunchy R-rated comedy could be just the thing to kick off the rehabilitation of Johnny’s career. Of course, he made an uncredited cameo in the first movie, but having him reprise the role of Tom Hanson in a comedic role and go for broke as the veteran leader of the Jump Street program could be an inspired piece of casting.
