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Well, this came together nicely. During an interview today with Collider’s own Steven Weintraub for the upcoming Alice in Wonderland sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, James Bobin said that he is, indeed, set to direct MIB 23, the anticipated crossover film between 23 Jump Street and Men in Black that was announced not all that long ago. Of course, we had word of this back in March, but the Muppets director had yet to definitely say that he was on board with the project until today.

As we reported in April, the film will be officially titled MIB 23, and Bobin says that he is set to begin shooting the crossover film later this year. Not only is this great news for fans of both franchises, which I would count myself in despite having to sit through MIB 3, it’s a perfect match of tone. Bobin has done most of his major work with The Muppets films, and both entries in that revitalized franchise have proven to be equally fun and funny. The main goal of both Men in Black and 21 Jump Street has been to generate laugh and, occasionally, wonder, and that seems to be part of Bobin’s admirable resume thus far.

What we can expect from the narrative of the crossover is still up in the air, but it really shouldn’t matter all that much at the end of the day. These movies are not particularly interested in narrative cohesion, but rather, as I said, making as many guffaws land as possible within two hours or so. There’s no clear word yet as to who will be included in Bobin’s creative team, but if performers like Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Will Smith are in, that says quite a lot (in the positive column) about both the fiscal potential, and the possibility for great humor, for this crossover. Officially, none of them have yet to sign on for the crossover, but the likelihood of both Hill and Tatum joining the project, at the very least, seems pretty high at this point. For his part, Bobin seems like the perfect man to bring it all home in a jangling, purposefully absurd package.