Columbia Pictures has officially signed Will Smith for Men in Black 3. The studio has also already signed director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black) and has scheduled to the 3D movie to open on May 25th, 2012.
Walter F. Parkes and Laurie McDonald are returning to produce with Steven Spielberg executive producing. Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) wrote the script, which underwent a polish by David Koepp (Spider-Man)..
According to the studio, Tommy Lee Jones is in advance negotiations to reprise his role as Agent Kay and Josh Brolin is in talks to star as a “young” Agent Kay.
In a statement, Sony Pictures Chairman Jeff Blake proclaimed,
“Sony's summer of 2012 will get off to a red hot start with an incredible new 3D adventure for the Men in Black. We couldn't be more excited that the original filmmaking team responsible for the first two worldwide hits is reuniting for this third installment. We love where the story is taking Agents Jay and Kay and know this new chapter will deliver a fresh fun twist for fans of the franchise while also introducing the Men in Black to a whole new generation of moviegoers.”
MIB3 will open against Universal and Peter Berg's boardgame adaptation Battleship scheduled to open the same day.
Men in Black was released back in 1997 and made $589 million worldwide, it was then followed by Men in Black 2 which didn't do as well with $441 million in 2002. The first film in the franchise won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and was nominated for two other Oscars.
This is the first I’ve heard about them doing a third. As long as Will and Tommy are on board, I will check it out. The two together are hilarious!