Lowell Cunnigham’s comic book series The Men In Black took a turn in 1997 when it got its Hollywood debut. Not only did it launch the franchise to global fame, but it also set the industry standard for the future buddy cop films and boosted the popularity of the legendary Tommy Lee Jones, and the 90s Fresh Prince Of Bel Air star Will Smith.
Ever since the franchise has expanded and provided us with two more sequels over the next decade, Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012), which turned out to be highly successful ventures as the last movie’s soundtrack featured renowned artists like Christina Aguilera and Pitbull.
A NEW CHAPTER:
Almost seven years later, a spinoff to the series, Men in black: International has released with new agents, Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) and newbie Agent M (Tessa Thompson) tackle replacing Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the new buddy duo in town who deal with protecting their planet against bizarre alien attacks. Meanwhile, Will Smith decided to trade in the sleek suit for a giant blue CGI cloud by starring as Genie in Disney’s Aladdin.
Laurie MacDonald, the producer for the movie, explained to the audience what led to the creative team’s decision to omit out agent J and K in the next film after Men In Black 3. She said: “We did all talk about the fact that we didn’t feel there was another film… We all talked about it feeling complete, that somehow because the third dealt with the mystery of Will’s father, it felt emotionally complete. All of us collectively didn’t think that we’d go on with that. And we didn’t even begin developing Men In Black International for a couple of years because we weren’t sure we would,” she told entertainment source Variety, in an interview.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN:
Although not present in person, you can still see a trinket of the duo. They are in the form of a photo hanging in the background at Agent High T’s office.
Men in black international are now screening in theatres and features actors Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson, and Emma Thompson.