Men in Black (also known as MIB) is a series of American science fiction action comedy films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and based on the Malibu / Marvel comic book series The Men in Black by Lowell Cunningham, which was itself based on a UFO conspiracy theory.

After Agent K hand-picks James D. Edwards from the NYPD and recruits him for MiB, the two Men in Black find themselves in the middle of the deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to steal an energy source of unimaginable power.

When the notorious alien criminal Boris the Animal escapes LunarMax Security Prison to seek revenge on K for capturing him in 1969, he is able to use secret time-travel technology to go back in time and undo the events of his defeat, resulting in a new timeline where K is killed during his fight with Boris and Earth is now vulnerable to an invasion from his species.

Featuring Josh Brolin as young K. In the film, rookie MIB recruit Molly Wright and Agent H from MIB's UK branch investigate the activities of the shape-shifting alien duo Twins who are seeking a dangerous artifact, only to discover that there is a more dangerous threat: a mole in the agency.

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.

Sonnenfeld was attached to Get Shorty (1995), so they approached Les Mayfield to direct, as they had heard about the positive reception to his remake of Miracle on 34th Street.

Sonnenfeld decided to change the location to New York City, because the director felt New Yorkers would be tolerant of aliens who behaved oddly while disguised.

He cited influences from Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, who designed a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Through changing of subtitles, the images on MIB's main computer and Frank the Pug's dialogue, the Baltians were eliminated from the plot.

[26] The climax of the second film was originally to have taken place at New York City's World Trade Center, but was changed following the destruction of the buildings in the September 11 attacks.

[30] For some of the scenes with the Serleena creature, the sound crew "took tree branches, put them inside a rubber membrane and pushed that around and added some water.

[41] A third writer, Jeff Nathanson, was hired in November to rewrite the time-travel segment of the script in which the story takes place in 1969.

[42] Nathanson and Koepp, along with producer Spielberg, had previously worked together on the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

[45] The film's script was written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and would be produced by Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes.

[49] Principal photography on the film began on July 9, 2018, at Leavesden Studios and on location in London, and continued in Morocco, Italy, and New York City.

[53] Visual effects for the film were provided by Double Negative and supervised by Alessandro Ongaro with the help of Rodeo FX, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Method Studios.

[54] Men in Black won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, and was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction.

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

[58][59] A. O. Scott of The New York Times said that "within the trivial, ingratiating scope of its ambition, though, the sequel is pleasant enough", and, noting the huge array of aliens designed by Rick Baker, said that the film "really belongs to Mr.

[66] Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, in particular praising Josh Brolin's role as the young Agent K, which he cites as an excellent example of good casting.

[68] A. O. Scott of The New York Times also gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars and commented: "Men in Black 3 arrives in the multiplexes of the world with no particular agenda.

[69] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly noted that "Sonnenfeld and Cohen move their baby along with an integrity and gait that ought to serve as a blueprint for other filmmakers faced with the particular challenges of reviving big-ticket and time-dated hunks of pop culture".

[83] In July 2012, Columbia chief executive Doug Belgrad said that they are interested to continue the franchise after MIB 3's successful financial performance.

The news was leaked after Sony's system was hacked[87] and then confirmed by the directors of the Jump Street films, Chris Miller and Phil Lord during an interview about it.