Is the next adventure of J and K in danger of being neuralized from the minds of eager MiB fans...?

From the pages of the Los Angeles Times come reports that troubling setbacks have again struck the torturous production of the Men in Black series' widely-anticipated third film. After a two month delay in shooting since last November, which was purportedly arranged to wait for the streets in New York City to be cleared of snow, filming has evidently been postponed further and is now not expected to resume until late March.

Citing said recent severe weather conditions in NYC and the desire to take advantage of New York state tax incentives, producer Walter Parkes denied the rumor that the hiatus was, at least in part, due to creative conflicts between star Will Smith, director Barry Sonnenfeld, and the production staff. Nevertheless, it is reportedly common knowledge within the project that the primary bugbear is not the winter weather, but the script, written by Tropic Thunder's Etan Cohen. Although many scenes for Men in Black 3 have already been filmed, an 'anonymous source' claims that an indeterminate portion of the script is said to be in dire need of fine tuning, to the point that Catch Me If You Can writer Jeff Nathanson has been brought in to revamp the unfilmed script components.

What is known about the three-quel's script has been met with some trepidation by MiB fans. Another requisite 'anonymous source' who is said to have read the original script leaked some plot details last November, describing the narrative as a time travel adventure, with part of the story set in 1969. Josh Brolin will evidently play a young Agent K (played in the present by Tommy Lee Jones) who encounters counterculture and odd characters such as Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono, which turn out to be space aliens in disguise, much as Michael Jackson was portrayed in Men in Black 2. As intriguing as such an idea is, one perhaps needs to look no farther than the Star Wars prequels when wondering how successful the concept of different actors playing younger versions of established characters often turns out.

The action/fantasy/comedy franchise has been a cash cow for Sony Pictures, with 1997's Men in Black and its 2002 followup grossing a combined one billion dollars worldwide. However, while the first film received glowing critical praise, the sequel garnered a slew of poor reviews, putting possible talks of a third film on the back burner for several years. Despite this most recent delay in filming, a Sony spokesperson stated that MiB3's theatrical release date will not be affected.

Men in Black 3, filmed in 3D, is scheduled to premiere in May 2012.

LA Times

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