The studio has set 24 Jump Street for a December 10, 2027 theatrical release, marking the long-awaited return of the comedy franchise more than a decade after 22 Jump Street hit theaters in 2014.

Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube have all been in talks to reprise their roles as Schmidt, Jenko and Captain Dickson. The new film will be directed by Rodney Rothman, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Hill and Meghan Malloy.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed both 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, are returning as producers alongside Neal H. Moritz. Hill and Tatum are also among the film’s producers.

The unusual jump from 22 Jump Street directly to 24 Jump Street is very much in keeping with the franchise’s sense of humor. When the project was revealed earlier this year, the screenplay’s cover included the joke, “It took so long to make we had to skip one.”

The franchise has certainly taken its time getting back to the big screen. 21 Jump Street debuted in 2012, transforming the 1980s television series into an R-rated buddy comedy starring Hill and Tatum as two police officers sent undercover at a high school. Its 2014 sequel moved the duo to college and became an even bigger box office success, earning more than $330 million worldwide.

Various ideas for a third movie have surfaced over the years, including the famously abandoned Jump Street and Men in Black crossover. Tatum previously praised the script for an earlier version of a third movie, but the project remained stuck in development.

Now, Schmidt and Jenko finally appear headed back to the big screen.

24 Jump Street opens in theaters December 10, 2027.

There is something inherently unsettling about the overly cheerful world of children’s television. The colorful sets, catchy songs, talking objects and giant costumed characters are designed to make kids feel safe. Buddy takes all of that childhood comfort, twists it into something deeply disturbing and somehow manages to make the result as funny as it is horrifying.

Directed by Casper Kelly, the filmmaker behind the cult Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks, Buddy is exactly the kind of horror comedy that could have fallen apart almost immediately. A murderous orange unicorn from a 1990s-style children’s television show sounds like a great five-minute joke. Stretching that premise into a feature film is another story.

Somehow, Kelly makes it work.

The movie introduces audiences to It’s Buddy!, an impossibly upbeat children’s program hosted by Buddy, a towering orange unicorn voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. Buddy sings, dances and teaches his young friends important lessons, all while surrounded by the type of talking furniture, puppets and colorful characters that would have felt perfectly at home on television three decades ago.

Then one of the children stops playing along.

That is when Buddy begins revealing what kind of movie it really is.

As Buddy’s cheerful personality becomes increasingly threatening, Freddy (Delaney Quinn) and the other children begin questioning the world around them. Their attempt to escape Buddy’s increasingly dangerous playground eventually leads beyond the familiar television set and into a much stranger world.

Meanwhile, Cristin Milioti plays Grace, a mother in the real world who begins experiencing the disturbing feeling that someone is missing from her life, even though she cannot quite understand who that person might be.

It would be easy for Buddy to rely entirely on the joke of turning a Barney-like children’s character into a killer. Instead, Kelly keeps expanding the idea. The movie jumps between the television program, the outside world and increasingly bizarre environments that make it feel as though audiences are slowly discovering just how large Buddy’s nightmare actually is.

The production design is a huge part of why it works. It’s Buddy! genuinely looks like something pulled from a VHS tape sitting in a box since 1997. The cheap-looking sets, overly enthusiastic songs, goofy characters and dated television production aren’t merely background details. They are essential to the movie’s personality.

And once the violence begins, that artificial happiness makes everything happening on screen considerably more disturbing.

Keegan-Michael Key is particularly effective as Buddy. He never needs to completely abandon the character’s upbeat children’s-host personality to become frightening. In fact, Buddy is often at his creepiest when he is desperately trying to maintain that smile and convince everyone that they are still having fun.

The supporting cast is equally game for the insanity. Patton Oswalt voices a talking backpack named Strappy, while Michael Shannon appears as the cowboy puppet Willie. Topher Grace also stars alongside Milioti, but it is young Delaney Quinn who gives the movie much of its heart as Freddy.

Most importantly, Buddy understands exactly what kind of movie it wants to be.

This is not restrained horror. It is strange, bloody, absurd and intentionally ridiculous. Kelly throws children’s television, slasher horror, dark comedy and surrealism into the same blender and rarely seems interested in asking whether he has gone too far.

That commitment is what makes the movie so much fun.

Not every gag lands, and there are moments when Buddy threatens to stretch its central joke beyond its limits. But whenever the movie begins feeling comfortable, Kelly usually introduces another bizarre character, disturbing revelation or wonderfully ridiculous piece of violence to pull audiences back into Buddy’s world.

There is also something surprisingly effective underneath all the blood and comedy. Buddy plays with the strange relationship adults have with the television shows they loved as children. Looking back, some of those programs were genuinely bizarre. Giant creatures demanded participation, characters stared directly into the camera waiting for children to answer them and everyone repeatedly insisted that viewers were their friends.

 

Buddy simply asks what happens when one of those characters actually means it.

The answer is one of the strangest horror comedies of the year.

Buddy isn’t interested in reinventing horror. It just takes an incredibly fun idea and commits to it with enough creativity, nostalgia and unapologetic weirdness to make the whole thing work.

You may never look at a friendly children’s television mascot quite the same way again.

The upcoming Family Guy spinoff Stewie continues to build anticipation ahead of its 2027 debut, with Fox, Hulu, and 20th Television Animation officially revealing the series’ expanded voice cast. Alongside creator and longtime Family Guy star Seth MacFarlane, the animated comedy has recruited an impressive lineup of comedic and television talent.

Leading the new additions is Kenan Thompson, who will voice Royal, one of Stewie’s classmates who isn’t exactly thrilled about the dangers that come with Stewie’s outrageous adventures. Joining him is former Saturday Night Live cast member Vanessa Bayer as Morgan, Stewie’s carefree preschool teacher, whose attention often drifts away from the classroom.

The cast also includes:

• Melissa O’Neil as Wanda, Stewie’s intellectual equal and potential love interest.
• Mike Henry as BJ, Bruce’s gossip-loving son.
• Jessica Lowe as Caroline, Stewie’s ambitious classroom rival.
• Aaron Lee as Skunk, a 100-year-old turtle with an opinion on nearly everything.
• Seth MacFarlane in a second role as Bean, Stewie’s mostly silent preschool classmate.

The series follows Stewie after he’s kicked out of his previous preschool and forced to attend a less-than-ideal new school. While initially miserable, Stewie transforms the everyday classroom into an endless series of time-traveling and space-hopping adventures using his signature inventions, dragging his classmates along for the ride.

Stewie was officially ordered for two seasons earlier this year and marks the second major Family Guy spinoff following The Cleveland Show. According to reports, the new series is expected to run for fewer than 15 episodes in its first season while allowing Stewie to continue appearing on the flagship series.

MacFarlane previously joked about the new project, saying, “I’d like to thank Fox for this incredible opportunity, and I’m excited to start pretending I’m collaborating closely with them on the show.”

With an acclaimed comedic cast and Stewie Griffin stepping into the spotlight, Stewie is shaping up to be one of Fox’s biggest animated premieres when it arrives during the 2027–28 television season.