Ever since I heard 24 Jump Street is in the works, I’ve been curious about what the casting is going to look like. I think the 2012 movie was actually the first time I saw Dave Franco on a screen before his career took off in the Now You See Me and Neighbors movies. So, naturally, I’ve been curious if the actor will be back.
Since Franco has a project on the 2026 movie schedule called Idiots, someone had the chance to ask him about other upcoming projects. In the actor’s words to The Hollywood Reporter:
The truth is I don’t know yet. I have let them know how much I adore the franchise and that I’m here if they need me — but if Eric Molson doesn’t naturally fit into the story, I understand.
Franco was in both Jump Street movies as a character named Eric Molson. In the first one, he plays a student drug dealer that Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill’s Jenko and Schmidt are after during their undercover case. He had some memorable lines in 21 Jump Street (like “But you bought us Taco Bell!”), and it was great to see him in the sequel as a “drug expert” the pair decide to consult while he’s in prison.
To me, it feels only right to have Dave Franco’s hilarious, intelligent drug dealer role return to the film, and the actor’s into the idea. He just doesn’t know if it will happen yet. The Studio actor sounds like he's respectful of whatever vision the filmmakers have for 24 Jump Street, but he’s ready for the call, should it come.
It’s still early days, given we only heard about the existence of the movie back in June. The franchise producer, Neal H. Moritz, revealed the title and funny logline in the post below:
As the post reveals, the upcoming comedy was written by Rodney Rothman, Jonah Hill and Meghan Malloy (Rothman was a writer on 22 Jump Street). Funny enough, the filmmakers decided to skip making 23 Jump Street, which producer Phil Lord said was “out of respect for the dead”.
23 Jump Street was in development shortly after 22 Jump Street’s release back in 2014. At one time, it was reportedly a Men in Black crossover movie, but over ten years went by without the third film ever happening. Perhaps they felt like they needed to start over, title included.
We’ve heard that Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube have been in talks to star in the film (though Cube is also working on another comedy sequel, too). We’ll have to wait and see about the supporting cast, including Dave Franco. Right now, you can check out Franco’s latest movie, Idiots, now in theaters and DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island on September 25.
