Chris Hemsworth is reportedly in early negotiations to star in Sony’s spinoff of ‘Men In Black’. Much like ‘Jurassic World’, this isn’t being viewed as a reboot, but rather a new story set in the same universe with new characters. ‘Fate of the Furious’ helmer F. Gary Gray slated to direct, with a script by ‘Iron Man”s Matt Holloway and Art Marcum. The film already has a release date, June 14, 2019.
Hemsworth has already been part of updating two classic brands, 2016’s ‘Ghostbusters’ and 2015’s ‘Vacation’, but both comedies were weakly-received. He also had small appearances in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ as George Kirk. He is, of course, best known for playing Thor in the various Marvel Studios movies including last fall’s hit ‘Thor: Ragnarok’. He was most recently seen in the war drama ’12 Strong’ and is also known for films like ‘Rush’, ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ and ‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’.
The new ‘Men in Black’ is believed to showcase a Caucasian male lead (Hemsworth), a woman of color and an older man. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will not be part of the new story, which is described as a “global adventure” and Sony wants a diverse ensemble cast.
The first ‘Men in Black’ was released in 1997 and made $589 million. That was followed by ‘Men in Black II’ in 2002 and then ‘Men in Black 3’ in 2012. Outside the U.S., ‘Men in Black 3’ is the highest grossing of the series. In 2012, Smith and Jones both stated that they would consider coming back for a fourth film in that series, so there is still hope that even with this spinoff, the original story could still continue. Until roughly 2016, Sony planned to merge their ‘MiB’ and ’21 Jump Street’ franchises, but that appears to be dead.
What do you think? Are you curious to see what Gray and Hemsworth can come up with? Or… heaven forbid, will this go the way of ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Vacation’?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
