Men in Black (film series)

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This article is about the film series. For the franchise as a whole, see Men in Black (franchise).

Men in Black
Men In Black logo.png
Official film series logo
Based onThe Men in Black
by Lowell Cunningham
Starring
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
1997–present
Running time
407 minutes (4 films)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Men in Black (also known as MIB) is a series of American science fiction action comedy films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and based on the Malibu / Marvel comic book series The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham, which was itself based on the conspiracy theory. The first film, Men in Black, was released in 1997, the second film, Men in Black II, in 2002, the third film, Men in Black 3, in 2012, and the fourth film, Men in Black: International, in 2019. Amblin Entertainment and MacDonald/Parkes Productions produced all four films and distributed through Columbia Pictures.

Films[]

Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s)
Men in Black July 2, 1997 (1997-07-02) Barry Sonnenfeld Ed Solomon Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald
Men in Black II July 3, 2002 (2002-07-03) Robert Gordon and Barry Fanaro Robert Gordon
Men in Black 3 May 25, 2012 (2012-05-25) Etan Cohen
Men in Black: International June 14, 2019 (2019-06-14) F. Gary Gray Art Marcum & Matt Holloway

Men in Black (1997)[]

Main article: Men in Black (1997 film)

Men in Black is the first film in the series. Men in Black follows the exploits of Agent J and Agent K, members of a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth. After Agent K hand-picks James D. Edwards from the NYPD and recruits him for MiB, the two Men in Black find themselves in the middle of the deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to steal a power source of unimaginable power. In order to prevent worlds from colliding, the MiB must track down the terrorist and prevent the destruction of Earth. It's just another typical day for the Men in Black. The film was released on July 2, 1997, to positive reviews and grossed over $589 million worldwide

Men in Black II (2002)[]

Main article: Men in Black II

Men in Black II is the second film in the series, set five years after the first. For Agent J, it is another day at the office, monitoring, licensing and policing all alien activity on Earth. Agent K retired from MiB after the events of the first film and has returned to his former life. One day, J receives a report of an unauthorized landing of an alien spacecraft near New York. It is an old enemy of MiB, a Kylothian named Serleena, who is searching for a powerful artifact called The Light of Zartha. J investigates and realizes that it requires knowledge of events that only K possesses. After other recruited MiB agents fail to meet J's standards as a partner, J decides to bring back K and restore K's memory as an MiB agent to try and stop Serleena. The film was released on July 3, 2002, to mixed reviews and grossed over $441 million worldwide.

Men in Black 3 (2012)[]

Main article: Men in Black 3

Men in Black 3 is the third film in the series and was released on May 25, 2012, to positive reviews and grossed over $624 million worldwide. When a notorious alien criminal Boris the Animal escapes LunarMax Security Prison to seek revenge on K for capturing him in 1969, he is able to use secret time-travel technology to go back in time and undo the events of his defeat, resulting in a new timeline where K is killed during his fight with Boris and Earth is now vulnerable to an invasion from his species. With J the only one who remembers the original history, he must go back in time to join forces with the younger K and ensure that events play out as they should.

Men in Black: International (2019)[]

Main article: Men in Black: International

In September 2017, it was reported that the studio was fast-tracking a spin-off film with younger actors, and a plot handling the invasion of aliens on a global scale. Screenwriting duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway will write the screenplay, with F. Gary Gray in negotiations to direct.[1] In March 2018, it was announced Steven Spielberg would act as an executive producer for the project, while Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson would co-star.[2] In May 2018, Liam Neeson joined the cast, while Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will act as producers on the project.[3] The film was released on June 14, 2019.[4][5] In December 2018, the film's official title was revealed to be Men in Black: International.[6] However unlike its predecessors Men in Black: International received mostly negative reviews and was a box office disappointment, grossing only $253 million worldwide, making it the lowest grossing film in the series.

Cast and crew[]

Principal cast[]

Characters Original series Spin-off Related film
Men in Black Men in Black II Men in Black 3 Men in Black:
International 		Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls
1997 2002 2012 2019 2004
Agent J
James Darrell Edwards III 		Will Smith[7] Will Smith[8]
Cayen Martin
(young) 		Portrait[9]
Agent K
Kevin Brown 		Tommy Lee Jones[10] Tommy Lee Jones[11]
Josh Brolin
(young)[12]
Chief Zed Rip Torn[13] Kirk Larsen
(corpse)
Frank the Pug
Agent F 		Tim Blaney
(voice)
Mushu the Dog 		Photograph Tim Blaney
(voice)
Jack Jeebs Tony Shalhoub
Newton David Cross
Diner Waitress Mom Alexandra O'Hara
Agent T Patrick Warburton Stand-in
Agent M
Molly Wright 		Michael Jackson[14] Tessa Thompson
Mandeiya Flory
(young) 		Michael Jackson
Agent O Emma Thompson[15]
Alice Eve
(young)[16] 		Emma Thompson[17]
Laurel Weaver
Agent L 		Linda Fiorentino[18]
Edgar the Bug Vincent D'Onofrio[19] Portrait
Derrick Cunningham
Agent D 		Richard Hamilton[20]
Beatrice Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Gentle Rosenberg Mike Nussbaum[21]
Serleena
Kylothian Queen 		Lara Flynn Boyle
Laura Vasquez
The Light of Zartha 		Rosario Dawson
Scrad and Charlie Johnny Knoxville
Hailey Colombe Jacobsen
Jarra John Alexander
Boris the Animal Jemaine Clement
Griffin
The Arcanian 		Michael Stuhlbarg
James Darrell Edwards II Mentioned Mike Colter
Lilly Poison Nicole Scherzinger
Jeffrey Price Michael Chernus
Agent X David Rasche
Agent AA Will Arnett
Andy Warhol
Agent W 		Bill Hader
Mr. Wu Keone Young
Agent H
Henry 		Chris Hemsworth
Pawny Kumail Nanjiani
(voice)
High T Liam Neeson
Agent C Rafe Spall
Riza Rebecca Ferguson
The Twins Les Twins
Worm Guys Thom Fountain
(voice)
Brad Abrell
(voice) 		Drew Massey
(voice)
Carl J. Johnson
(voice)
Drew Massey
(voice) 		Greg Ballora
(voice) 		Tim Blaney
(voice)
Security Guard Alpheus Merchant Woodie King Jr. Vincent Pirillo

Additional crew[]

Film Crew/Detail
Composer(s) Cinematographer Editor(s) Production
companies 		Distributing
company 		Running time
Men in Black Danny Elfman Don Peterman Jim Miller Amblin Entertainment
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Parkes/MacDonald Productions 		Columbia Pictures Corporation 98 minutes
Men in Black II Greg Gardiner Richard Pearson
Steven Weisberg 		Columbia Pictures
Amblin Entertainment
MacDonald Parkes Productions 		Columbia Pictures 88 minutes
Men in Black 3 Bill Pope Don Zimmerman P+M Image Nation
Amblin Entertainment
Imagenation Abu Dhabi
Hemisphere Media Capital
Columbia Pictures Corporation 		Columbia Pictures Corporation 106 minutes
Men in Black:
International 		Chris Bacon
Danny Elfman 		Stuart Dryburgh Zene Baker, ACE
Christian Wagner 		Original Film
P+M Image Nation
Amblin Entertainment
The Hideaway Entertainment
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. 		Sony Pictures Releasing 115 minutes

Production[]

Development[]

Men in Black (1997)[]

The film is loosely based upon the comic book The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham. Producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald optioned the rights to The Men in Black in 1992 and hired Ed Solomon to write a very faithful script. Parkes and MacDonald wanted Barry Sonnenfeld as director because he had helmed the darkly humorous The Addams Family and its sequel Addams Family Values. Sonnenfeld was attached to Get Shorty (1995), so they approached Les Mayfield to direct, as they had heard about the positive reception to his remake of Miracle on 34th Street. They actually saw the film later and decided he was inappropriate. Men in Black was delayed so as to allow Sonnenfeld to make it his next project after Get Shorty.[22]

Much of the initial script drafts were set underground, with locations ranging from Kansas to Washington DC and Nevada. Sonnenfeld decided to change the location to New York City, because the director felt New Yorkers would be tolerant of aliens who behaved oddly while disguised. He also felt much of the city's structures resembled flying saucers and rocket ships. Production designer Bo Welch designed the MIB headquarters with a 1960s tone in mind, because that was when their organization is formed. He cited influences from Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, who designed a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Being the arrival point of aliens on Earth, Welch felt MIB HQ had to resemble an airport.[22]

ILM provided most of the special effects. Rick Baker led the special effects of the film, which was the most complex in his career to date. He had to have approval from both director Barry Sonnenfeld and executive producer Steven Spielberg: "It was like, 'Steven likes the head on this one and Barry really likes the body on this one, so why don't you do a mix and match?' And I'd say, because it wouldn't make any sense." Sonnenfeld also changed a lot of the film's aesthetic during pre-production: "I started out saying aliens shouldn't be what humans perceive them to be. Why do they need eyes? So Rick did these great designs, and I'd say, 'That's great — but how do we know where he's looking?' I ended up where everyone else did, only I took three months."[23]

Filming began in March 1995. Five months into the shoot, the crew realized their ending was unexciting. It was originally meant to be a humorous existential debate between Agent J and the Bug, and five potential replacements were discussed. One of these had Laurel Weaver being neuralyzed and K remaining an agent. The change to a fight sequence annoyed Rick Baker, as their animatronic Bug had to be replaced with computer-generated imagery. Further changes were made during post-production to simplify the plotline involving the possession of the tiny galaxy. The Arquillians would hand over the galaxy to the Baltians, ending a long war. The bugs need to feed on the casualties of the war and steal it to continue the war. Through changing of subtitles, the images on MIB's main computer and Frank the Pug's dialogue, the Baltians were eliminated from the plot. Earth goes from being potentially destroyed in the crossfire between the two races into being possibly destroyed by the Arquillians to prevent the bugs getting the galaxy.[22]

Men in Black II (2002)[]

Despite some initial involvement from David Koepp (who left to work on Spider-Man),[24] the script for Men in Black II was written by Robert Gordon and later revised by Barry Fanaro (who added pop culture references, something which Gordon had deliberately avoided).[25] Sonnenfeld took issue with the producers' focus on the love story between Will Smith's and Rosario Dawson's characters, saying that "I learned on Wild Wild West that audiences didn't want to see Will as the straight man. And until Tommy comes back into the movie, by definition Will's the straight man."[24] Fanaro condensed the first part of the film and brought Agent K in earlier.[24] The climax of the second film was originally to have taken place at New York City's World Trade Center. This had to be changed following the destruction of the buildings in the September 11 attacks.[26] The day after the attacks of September 11, a spokesperson for the studio said that the ending would be refilmed.[27]

Supervising sound editor Skip Lievsay used a Synclavier to recreate and improve the original recording of the neuralyzer sound effect from the first film (which was the sound of a strobe flash as it recycles) by removing some distortion.[28] For some of the scenes with the Serleena creature, the sound crew "took tree branches, put them inside a rubber membrane and pushed that around and added some water."[28] For the special effects scene where the subway train is attacked by Jeff the Worm, a specially designed vise was used to crush a subway car and make it look as if it had been bitten in half.[25]

Men in Black 3 (2012)[]

The premise of the third film was first proposed to Sonnenfeld by Smith during the filming of Men in Black II in 2002, with Smith suggesting that his character, Agent J, travel back in time to save his partner, Agent K, while at the same time exploring Agent K's backstory. Sonnenfeld said the idea "turned out to be a very long process of development, mainly because of the knotting [sic] issues of time travel...."[29] The film was first announced on April 1, 2009, by Sony Pictures Entertainment president Rory Bruer during a Sony ShoWest presentation.[30] By October 2009, Etan Cohen had been hired to write the screenplay.[31] As of March 2010, Will Smith remained undecided whether to join this film or another, The City That Sailed.[32] Sonnenfeld in May 2010 confirmed the return of the protagonists played by Tommy Lee Jones and Smith. Both had expressed interest in 2008 in reprising their roles.[33][34] Other staff includes Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald as producers, with Steven Spielberg as executive producer; all were producers of the two previous films.[35]

In June, writer David Koepp was hired to rewrite the Cohen script.[36] On June 11, 2010, the fan site SonyInsider.com posted what it described as a "clip [that] debuted at an exclusive Sony 3D TV launch event at Sony Pictures Studios",[37] showing Smith dressed as Agent J wearing 3-D glasses and stating, "I know what you're thinking — 'M.I.B.', 3-D, we're going to be blowing stuff up and all that. But that's not really what we're doing right now. We're here for one purpose, and for one purpose only: Just to let you know that I'm about to make 3-D look good."[38] A teaser poster for the film was also released on September 21, 2010.[39] A third writer, Jeff Nathanson, was hired in November 2010 to rewrite the time-travel segment of the script in which the story takes place in 1969.[40] Nathanson and Koepp, along with producer Spielberg, had previously worked together on the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Men in Black: International (2019)[]

In February 2018, it was reported that Chris Hemsworth would star in the film, which would be directed by F. Gary Gray.[41] The following month, Tessa Thompson joined the cast.[42] In May 2018, it was reported that Liam Neeson was in talks to star in the film as the head of the UK branch of the agency.[43] The film's script was written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and would be produced by Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes.[44] In June 2018, Kumail Nanjiani, Rafe Spall, and Les Twins were added to the cast of the film.[45][46] Danny Elfman, who scored the first three Men in Black films, returned to compose the score for the film alongside Chris Bacon.[47]

Principal photography on the film began on July 9, 2018, at Leavesden Studios and on location in London, and continued in Morocco, Italy, and New York City.[48] Emma Thompson was announced as reprising her role as Agent O in the film later that month.[49] In August 2018, Rebecca Ferguson joined the cast of the film.[50] On October 17, Hemsworth confirmed that filming had wrapped.[51] Visual effects for the film were provided by Double Negative and supervised by Alessandro Ongaro with the help of Rodeo FX, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Method Studios.[52]

Reception[]

Critical response[]

Men in Black won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, and was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe of Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.[53] The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, having a 92% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes film critic website.[54] Following the film's release, Ray-Ban stated sales of their Predator 2 sunglasses (worn by the organization to deflect neuralyzers) tripled to $5 million.[55][better source needed]

The second film received mixed reviews from critics, gaining a 39% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as opposed to the 92% rating given for its predecessor, based on 197 reviews and a Metacritic score of 49.[56][57] A. O. Scott of The New York Times said that, "Within the trivial, ingratiating scope of its ambition, though, the sequel is pleasant enough," and, noting the huge array of aliens designed by Rick Baker, said that the film "really belongs to Mr. Baker."[58] A review in The Hindu called the film "worth viewing once."[59] Another review from Digital Media FX magazine praised the spaceships as looking very realistic, but criticized many of the simpler visual effects such as the moving backgrounds composited behind the car windows using blue-screen (which it called a throwback to the special effects of earlier decades).[60] In August 2002, Entertainment Weekly placed the Worm Guys among their list of the best CG characters, and said that the enlarged roles of both Frank the Pug and the Worm Guys in Men in Black II was beneficial for the "tiring franchise".[61] The film earned a Razzie Award nomination for Lara Flynn Boyle as Worst Supporting Actress.[62]

Men in Black 3 received mostly positive reviews from film critics. The film holds a 69% approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 6.06/10, based on an aggregation of 244 reviews.[63] It has a score of 58% on Metacritic based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[64] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, in particular praising Josh Brolin's role as the young Agent K, which he cites as an excellent example of good casting. Ebert also praised the "ingenious plot, bizarre monsters, audacious cliff-hanging" and the "virtuoso final sequence".[65] Richard Roeper gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars while saying, "It's that rare threequel that doesn't suck. Great special effects, surprising amount of heart."[66] A. O. Scott of The New York Times also gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and commented, "Men in Black 3 arrives in the multiplexes of the world with no particular agenda. Which may be part of the reason that it turns out to be so much fun."[67] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly noted, "Sonnenfeld and Cohen move their baby along with an integrity and gait that ought to serve as a blueprint for other filmmakers faced with the particular challenges of reviving big-ticket and time-dated hunks of pop culture."[68] Rafer Guzman of Newsday wrote, "The franchise is no longer the zenith of blockbusterism, and the gooey effects from Hollywood veteran Rick Baker look overly familiar, but Men in Black 3 remains an amiable comedy with some fondly familiar faces."[69]

Box office performance[]

Film Release date Box office gross Box office ranking Budget Reference
North America Other
territories 		Worldwide All time
North America 		All time
worldwide
Men in Black July 2, 1997 $250,690,539 $338,000,000 $588,690,539 126 158 $90 million [70]
Men in Black II July 3, 2002 $190,418,803 $251,400,000 $441,818,803 225 252 $140 million [71]
Men in Black 3 May 25, 2012 $179,020,854 $445,005,922 $624,026,776 260 143 $215 million [72][73]
Men in Black: International June 14, 2019 $80,001,807 $173,888,894 $253,890,701 985 583 $110 million [74]
Total $700,132,003 $1,208,294,816 $1,909,126,819 $555 million [75]

Critical and public response[]

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Men in Black 92% (89 reviews)[54] 71 (22 reviews)[76] B+[77]
Men in Black II 38% (198 reviews)[56] 49 (37 reviews)[57] B+[77]
Men in Black 3 68% (251 reviews)[63] 58 (38 reviews)[64] B+[77]
Men in Black: International 23% (318 reviews)[78] 38 (51 reviews)[79] B[77]

Cancelled projects[]

Cancelled fourth film in the original series[]

Main article: List of unproduced films based on Marvel Imprints § Men in Black 4

Both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have said that they would "consider" appearing in a Men in Black 4.[80] Jones said it would be "easy to pick up where we left off. We know what we are doing, we know how to do it. It's just a hell of a lot of fun."[81] In July 2012, Columbia chief executive Doug Belgrad said: "We're very pleased with the financial performance of Men in Black 3, and we believe it is an ongoing franchise. We're going to do [another one], but we don't have clarity yet on how it should be done."[82] Barry Sonnenfeld said: "Will's kind of really smart, but as I said, kind of really annoying, too much energy. When he would get too rambunctious, I would tell him save that for Men in Black 4, Will is out and [his son] Jaden Smith is in … if we continue on this path, it won't be released until 2032 but it will be damn good." Will Smith said that: "Jaden is already 13 years old, so he's at that mythological boys age, you know – it's time for his bro-mitzvah. So he's right at that place ... He's ready to test me so he can't come anywhere near my movies right now!"[83] In early 2013 , Oren Uziel was writing a Men in Black 4 screenplay for Sony Pictures.[84] As of 2021, no further developments regarding the sequel have been announced.

MIB 23[]

Main article: List of unproduced films based on Marvel Imprints § MIB 23

On December 10, 2014, it was revealed that Sony was planning a crossover between Men in Black and Jump Street. The news was leaked after Sony's system was hacked[85] and then confirmed by the directors of the Jump Street films, Chris Miller and Phil Lord during an interview about it.[86][87] James Bobin was announced as director in 2016.[87][88][89][90][91] In January 2019, it was reported that the project was no longer in development.[92]

Related film[]

In 2004, Michael Jackson reprised his cameo role as Agent MJ from Men in Black II in Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls, released in 2004, his final scripted film performance before his death in 2009.[93]

References[]

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