Men in Black spin-off confirmed, won't feature Will Smith

The Men in Black are back, officially.

Though without their beloved star, as Deadline has revealed Sony has fast-tracked a spin-off of the franchise to hit cinemas on 17 May, 2019; spin-off being the key word at play here, meaning Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones aren't expected to reprise their roles.

The script, penned by Iron Man and Transformers: The Last Knight's Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, is set within the same universe as the previous films, but puts a contemporary spin on the franchise that captures things on a more global scale.

Supposedly, Sony is hoping to do something similar to Jurassic World, which changed up the stakes while still acknowledging the history of previous films.

This isn't, unfortunately, the planned crossover movie that would pit the worlds of Men in Black and 21 Jump Street together, either; that idea is still apparently in development, despite Jonah Hill previously confessing the project was pretty much dead.

"It’s so rare to get to the end of the script and know you’re holding a movie in your hands, but Art and Matt have written a spinoff that somehow is true to the core of the MiB world and yet expands the franchise to a fresh new place," producer Walter F. Parkes stated.

Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more.