The film is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, based on a script by Ed Solomon, that adapts the Marvel comic book series The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham.

Development for the film began in 1992, after producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald optioned the rights to the comic book series.

Solomon was soon hired to write the screenplay; Sonnenfeld was the preferred directorial choice, which resulted in delays due to his commitments to other film projects and a failure to secure any alternative directors.

Principal photography began in March 1996 and lasted until that June, with filming primarily taking place in New York City.

Men in Black premiered at Pacific's Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on June 25, 1997, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 2.

Ever since, they established Earth as a politically neutral zone for alien refugees that live in secret amongst humanity, monitor and police their actions, and utilize memory-erasing neuralyzer devices to maintain secrecy.

Tipped off by tabloid reporting, the agents interview the farmer's wife while the Bug fatally wounds two disguised aliens, who are presumed dead and sent to a city morgue overseen by coroner Laurel Weaver.

Frank reveals that Rosenberg was on Earth protecting a miniature galaxy, a precious source of subatomic energy, and that the Bug wants to use it to destroy the Arquillians.

The pair bid each other farewell before J neuralyzes K. Sometime later, K reunites with his wife while J is joined by Laurel, now Agent L. The film is loosely based on Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers's comic book The Men in Black.

Producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald optioned the rights to The Men in Black in 1992, and hired Ed Solomon to write a very faithful script.

Then, five months into the shoot, Sonnenfeld decided that the original ending, with a humorous existential debate between Agent J and the Bug, was unexciting and lacking the action that the rest of the film had.

For example, the reveal of Gentle Rosenberg's Arquillian nature went from a man with a light under his neck's skin to a small alien hidden inside a human head.

The film also received a third-person shooter Men in Black game developed by Gigawatt Studios and published by Gremlin Interactive, which was released to lackluster reviews in October 1997 for the PC and the following year for the PlayStation.

Also, a very rare promotional PlayStation video game system was released in 1997 with the Men in Black logo on the CD lid.

[27] The film was re-released in a collector's series on VHS and DVD on September 5, 2000,[28] with the DVD containing several bonus features including an interactive editing workshop for three different scenes from the film, extended storyboards, conceptual art, and a visual commentary track with Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld; an alternate two-disc Deluxe Edition was released in 2002, adding a fullscreen version and a preview for Men In Black II.

[30] The entire Men in Black trilogy was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 5, 2017, in conjunction with the film's 20th anniversary.

[34][35] Two years later, its successor Men in Black II broke the record for having the highest three-day Fourth of July opening weekend.

[36] Moreover, Men in Black held the record for having the highest opening weekend for an action-packed comedy film until Rush Hour 2 surpassed it in 2001.

The site's critical consensus reads "Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, Men in Black is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit.

[49] Janet Maslin, reviewing for The New York Times, wrote the film "is actually a shade more deadpan and peculiar than such across-the-board marketing makes it sound.

As with his Addams Family films and Get Shorty, which were more overtly funny than the sneakily subtle Men in Black, Mr. Sonnenfeld takes offbeat genre material and makes it boldly mainstream.

"[50] Writing for Variety, Todd McCarthy acknowledged the film was "witty and sometimes surreal sci-fi comedy" in which he praised the visual effects, Baker's creature designs and Elfman's musical score.

"[51] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a C+, writing "Men in Black celebrates the triumph of attitude over everything else – plausibility, passion, any sense that what we're watching actually matters.

"[52] John Hartl of The Seattle Times, claimed the film "is moderately amusing, well-constructed and mercifully short, but it fails to deliver on the zaniness of its first half."

"[53] Men in Black won Best Makeup at the 70th Academy Awards and was also nominated for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Art Direction, losing the latter two to The Full Monty and Titanic, respectively.

[57] Following the film's release, Ray-Ban stated sales of their Predator 2 sunglasses (worn by the organization to deflect neuralyzers) tripled to $5 million.

The film drew inspiration from the 1956 book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, which alleged UFO witnesses were being silenced by mysterious black-clad agents.