Jonah Hill thought Jump Street remake was bad idea

Jonah Hill has admitted that he originally scoffed at adapting the 1980s police series 21 Jump Street into a film.

Hill wrote and co-stars opposite Channing Tatum in the big-screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street, but said he joined the project only after tremendous persuasion from the producers.

“When they approached me to do it five years ago, I tend[ed] to roll my eyes like everybody else would when you hear about a television show being made into a movie and you kind of think this seems like a corporate cash-grab or whatever, just to play on something that was popular a long time ago,” the actor said, according to The Reel Bits.

Hill further explained that he was determined to put a new spin on 21 Jump Street’s tale of young cops going undercover as high school students.

“We make [a] joke in the movie three minutes into the film, saying like, ‘Hey, we get what you’re thinking’, and we’re going to call it out before you can and show you that it’s a way better movie than you think you’re about to see,” he revealed.

“For us, it was just about… if you could go back and relive the most important period of your youth thinking you have all the answers and getting back there… and you think you have it wrong, that’s a cool idea for a film. That’s kind of the reason why I did it.”

Dave Franco, Brie Larson and Nick Offerman also appear in 21 Jump Street, opening on March 16 in the US and UK cinemas.