Back in 2014, when a trove of personal emails between executives at Sony Pictures were released as part of a widespread hack by a group called Guardians of Peace, it was revealed that the studio had been discussing a crossover movie that would combine the cinematic worlds of the 21 Jump Street reboot and Men in Black. The idea got far enough down the line that suits at Sony started swapping potential advertising campaigns to introduce the mash-up to the public, down to potential titles and theoretical movie posters.
Those executives—namely Amy Pascal, then head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Doug Belgrad, president of Sony Motion Picture Group, as well as a few other film producers—looped Jonah Hill, one of the two stars of the new 21 Jump Street, into the discussion. On Nov. 6, Hill wrote to the group with his suggestion on how to best announce the new film. Via the Wikileaks cache of the email:
On Nov 6, 2014, at 7:30 PM, Jonah H <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
on the mock up and all the weird names with all the numbers and blah blah look weird and confusing to me. i have a cool pitch for the name:“JUMP STREET X MEN IN BLACK”
they put that x in the middle when people do collaborations in fashion art and music and i think its cool to have jump street and men in black with no numbers be the words used.
a thought to ponder.
-JH
Hill—who it should be noted here has an apartment in SoHo—wanted Sony to brand the movie in the same minimalist but confident way as high-profile fashion collaborations such as Alexander Wang X H&M. His “thought to ponder” was earnest and cute, and given that he was talking to a bunch of old movie executives, probably helpful, too. Alas, when the movie (which likely won’t ever happen) was tentatively announced it was given the working title MIB 23, not exactly the Supreme X North Face-esque pose Hill was pushing for.
Over two years later, though, it appears that Hill has finally secured that elusive “X” collaboration. This afternoon on Twitter, Danny Brown announced a new… something with his friend Jonah Hill. And wouldn’t you know it:
Dropping something live with the bruh bruh @JonahHill tomorrow – 5pm ET? pic.twitter.com/B8HzoOFvdM
— Danny Brown (@xdannyxbrownx) March 27, 2017
Congrats, Jonah. May all your wishes be fulfilled.
