If you've seen any recent interviews with Jonah Hill lately, you've noticed he's substantially skinnier and in a freakier-than-Seth-Rogen kind of way. Like Rogen lost weight for The Green Hornet, Hill hit the gym for this film remake of 21 Jump Street, the television series that starred a younger Johnny Depp.
Hill stars alongside Channing Tatum in this undercover cop comedy about two police officers and former high school friends assigned to be pose as teenagers in order to find the source of a popular new synthetic drug. The televisison series, which aired from 1987-1991 starred Dustin Nguyen, Peter DeLuise, Steven Williams and Holly Robinson Peete along with the aforementioned Depp, who will cameo in the film. Members of the 2012 cast include Ice Cube, Jake M. Johnson (No Strings Attached), Brie Larson (Scott Pigrim vs. the World) and Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids, The Office).
The movie looks to blend R-rated humor with action not all that unlike The Green Hornet, except this film emphasizes the humor first and doesn't have decades of comicbook fans to please. Hill and Tatum both served as executive producers and Hill specifically shepherded the project along at Columbia. Although Hill steals most of the jokes in this trailer, I'm most interested in what Tatum does, as he's funnier than most people realize (most people being everyone who didn't see The Dilemma).
Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the lauded duo behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It arrives in theaters this spring on Mar. 16.
