MEN IN BLACK
SEQUEL REVS UP

Though many felt a sequel would never materialise, a follow-up to the 1997 film Men In Black has taken a step forward with the hiring of screenwriter Robert Gordon.

Since the original was Sony’s top-grossing film ever, with $587.7 million in worldwide grosses, it seems unusual to take so long to get a scribe. Part of the slow pace stems from the fact that director Barry Sonnenfeld, and stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, do not have sequel deals. And Steven Spielberg and his Amblin production company have a very strong gross participation, that escalated to as high as 50% of gross receipts.

But Columbia, where the project is being steered by executive Doug Belgrade and president Amy Pascal, is apparently bent on hammering its Amblin-generated concept into a script, worrying about the stars later.

Men In Black is just one example of many slow-spawning sequels. While a fourth installment of Indiana Jones or the Jack Ryan series is dependent on the approval of star Harrison Ford, sequels to films like Bad Boys, Rush Hour and Jumanji should ideally follow quickly on the heels of the original. But bickering over budgets and gross deals often either sabotage the remake, or delay the sequels so long that the original’s fan base is lost.

Men In Black’s lack of deals and input from the creative principals apparently made writer David Koepp think twice about getting involved, when the Lost World scribe, Robert Gordon, was courted for the job.

Gordon has an Amblin connection. He wrote DreamWorks’ Galaxy Quest, a space adventure being directed by Dean Parisot and starring Tim Allen, Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, with Mark Johnson producing. That film was put together by the Amblin braintrust who now run DreamWorks, and who are trying to get going on the Men In Black sequel. Gordon’s scripting credits also include Addicted To Love.

Any Men In Black sequel would be a long way off, presumably. Smith and Sonnenfeld have just released Wild Wild West. Though poised to re-team in the Peters Ent.-produced biopic of Muhammad Ali at Sony, there is a chance that Smith will first work for director Tom Shadyac in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, joining Nicolas Cage in the Barry Fanaro-scripted comedy.

Tommy Lee Jones, meanwhile, is slated to star in the Clint Eastwood-directed Space Cowboys at Warner Bros. Then, Jones goes to work for Sony, directing the adaptation he scripted for Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.