Etan Cohen Hired to Write ‘Men in Black 3′

Published by Jeff Leins on: October 29th, 2009

Sony’s Columbia Pictures is moving forward with Men in Black 3 and has hired Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) to write the screenplay.  He’s reportedly “deep into” a draft already.

At this point there are no deals in place for either Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones, though the director of the first two, Barry Sonnenfeld, is loosely attached to MIB3 (MIIIB?).

THR’s Risky Business Blog has heard “buzz” that Smith is considering the return since he has no “go” projects lined up at the moment.  Jones’ involvement is uncertain, but if you think Sony would pass up an opportunity for a money maker like this because of him then you’re insane.  Ideally, of course, they’d both be back.

The two films alone have made over $1 billion worldwide.

At the Sony presentation during the ShoWest conference in April, Rory Bruer (the President of Sony Worldwide Distribution) announced the Men in Black threequel along with Ghostbusters 3 and Spider-Man 4.  It’s no surprise they’re the three largest franchises for Sony.  All three sequels could potentially hit sometime in 2011 (depending on scheduling), though GB3 will probably be held for summer 2012.  Eggs in one basket and all that.