Columbia wants more "Men in Black"

By Siewaun
Reference: Variety

Columbia Pictures has officially hired ("Tropic Thunder", "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa", "Sherlock Holmes") writer Etan Cohen to write the script for the planned third installment of the "Men in Black" series.

There is no formal deal as yet for the series' stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, but it is unlikely that Columbia will go forward with the project without their involvement. Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed the first two movies, might come back to direct this third series.

The studio is aiming to start production in spring 2010.

"MIB" (1997) and "MIB2" (2002) grossed a combination of nearly $1.1 billion worldwide to become one of the most successful comedy franchises.