‘24 Jump Street’ in the works with original cast in talks to return

Sony is developing a third installment in its “Jump Street” comedy franchise, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube in talks to return, according to Variety.

Rodney Rothman, who co-directed “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” will helm the film from a script he wrote with Mr. Hill and Meghan Malloy. Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the first two films, will return alongside longtime producer Neal H. Moritz. Mr. Tatum and Reid Carolin are producing under their Free Association banner, while Mr. Hill and Matt Dines will produce through their Strong Baby label.

The original “21 Jump Street,” released in 2012, starred Mr. Hill and Mr. Tatum as underachieving police officers who go undercover at a high school to dismantle a drug ring. It was Mr. Lord and Mr. Miller’s live-action directorial debut and earned more than $200 million worldwide. The 2014 sequel, “22 Jump Street,” which moved the action to a college campus, grossed $331 million globally.

A third installment has languished in development for more than a decade. Mr. Tatum previously said a script for the abandoned “23 Jump Street” — conceived as a crossover with Sony’s “Men in Black” franchise — was the best he had ever read for a third film. The decision to skip that title and go straight to “24 Jump Street” continues a franchise in-joke: the closing credits of “22 Jump Street” spoofed potential sequels, including undercover missions at a medical school, a culinary school, a dance school and even in space.

Mr. Tatum currently has only an offer to appear in the new film; formal negotiations have not yet begun.