Comedy "24 Jump Street" in the works

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back on assignment in the movie "24 Jump Street," writes Variety.

The latest installment of this popular comedy film franchise is currently in development at Sony Pictures, with Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube in talks to return to their roles.

The film will be directed by Rodney Rothman from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hill and Megan Malloy. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the 2012 film “21 Jump Street” and the 2014 sequel “22 Jump Street,” return as producers along with Neil H. Moritz. Hill and his partner Matt Dines of Strong Baby Productions are also producing, as are Tatum and his partner Reed Carolyn of Free Association.

Plot details have not yet been released, and it is not known why the number 23 was skipped in the title of the new film. However, Moric posted the cover page of the script on Instagram with the message: "It took so long to shoot that we had to skip one."

Rothman, who won an Oscar for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” already worked on the script for “22 Jump Street” with Michael Bacall and Oren Uzil.

Lord and Miller, who directed this year's Amazon MGM hit "Project Hail Mary," starring Ryan Gosling, made their feature film directorial debut with "21 Jump Street." Hill and Bacall wrote the screenplay for that film.

The plot followed officers Schmidt (Hill) and Jenk (Tatum) who go undercover as high school students to infiltrate a drug ring. Ice Cube played the stern Captain Dixon, who was in charge of the program.

The film “21 Jump Street” grossed more than $200 million worldwide. The sequel “22 Jump Street,” in which the main characters disguised themselves as college students, was even more successful, grossing $331 million worldwide. The films are based on the television series “21 Jump Street,” which premiered on the Fox network in 1987 and ran for five seasons.