Channing Tatum Finally Reveals the Fate of 23 Jump Street

We have been hearing about 23 Jump Street since, well, 22 Jump Street. A decade later, the follow-up still has not rolled cameras, and Channing Tatum is now saying the quiet part out loud: it is probably not happening, even though he swears the script is a killer.

So... is 23 Jump Street dead?

Tatum told Variety he has read a version he calls the best script he has ever had for him and Jonah Hill. He also says he gets asked about Jump Street 3 more than any other project he has done. But when you get into the weeds of why it keeps stalling, it is not story or interest. It is money, specifically producer money.

"Neal's price for a producer fee is huge. And to be honest, that is what is killing it."

That is Tatum, naming Neal H. Moritz as the sticking point. Tatum says he, Hill, and original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have all agreed to slash their own producer fees to make the numbers work. The math still will not math.

Why it keeps collapsing

• The sequel has been in development since not long after 22 Jump Street, but the budget gets crushed by what Tatum calls overhead from the pile of producers involved.
• According to Tatum, the overhead would cost as much as the movie itself, maybe more, which makes the whole thing too top-heavy to stand up.
• Tatum, Hill, Lord, and Miller have offered to cut their producer fees; the major obstacle, he says, is Neal H. Moritz's asking price.

That is the corporate version of a banana peel. Every time it looks like the movie might take a step forward, it slips.

Remember that Men in Black crossover?

There was a moment when the plan was to mash up Jump Street with Men in Black. On paper, that is a fun disaster. In reality, after years of spinning tires, it might be time to accept that Schmidt and Jenko have aged out of undercover high school and the franchise might be better off napping.

What Tatum is doing instead

Right now, Tatum is on screens with Kirsten Dunst in Roofman, a true-crime drama about a thief who knocked over dozens of McDonald's, got caught, broke out, and then lived for months inside a Toys "R" Us. Critic Chris Bumbray was all-in on it, calling Tatum's work one of the year's most affecting performances and saying the movie gave him that old-school, full-body theatrical high. He even grouped it with F1, Sinners, Caught Stealing, and Weapons as the rare studio releases that really hit this year, and he thinks both Tatum and Dunst deserve Oscar attention.

As for 23 Jump Street: would you still want it if the money puzzle ever gets solved?