Action, aliens and... Emma Thompson: New teaser trailer shows Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones back in business for Men in Black III

by Eleanor Gower, dailymail.co.uk
December 12th 2011

They were last seen in their dapper black suits and trademark sunglasses nearly ten years ago.

But now, the Men in Black are back to control more unruly aliens, with a new teaser trailer showing Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents K and J for the forthcoming third instalment of the hit franchise.

And initially, after the decade long absence, it seems nothing has changed too much, with the intrepid pair still spending their days monitoring alien activity in New York City.

The trailer, released by Sony, show the agents back to their usual tricks of putting on sunglasses while using a 'neutraliser' to erase the memories of those who have come across extra terrestrials.

The clip shows Smith brandishing one at a graffiti artist after seeing an alien inside a wall drawing.

The plot then seems to revolve around the mystery of secretive agent K who tells the irritated Smith that 'There's things out there you don't need to know about.'

Jones is shown on the phone promising someone 'the secrets of the universe,' while Smith attempts to access a computer file, but is perplexed when access is denied.

After shots of Agent K examining a large silver alien weapon, Smith meets Agent O, played by Emma Thompson, who mysteriously informs him that 'Agent K has been dead for 40 years.'

Cue Smith having to travel back in time to put things right, which involves him him using a 'time jump' control and leaping off the Chrysler Building.

He arrives in the past where he encounters none other than actor Josh Brolin as the young and serious Agent K.

Alice Eve also stars in the 'back in time' portion as the young Thompson.

The official synopsis for the film continues that 'Secrets that will reveal themselves as J teams up with the young Agent K (Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.'

Despite the action packed nature of the trailer, production on the blockbuster has not been without its problems, according to sources.

The budget of the movie is reported by TheWrap.com to have blown up to more than $215 million dollars, more than twice the budget of Men In Black II.

There were also production delays, with the film supposed to begin shooting last October, but ending up being postponed until March.

Then there was the unwanted publicity over the size of Smith's trailer, which stretched beyond the size of a city bus at 53 ft and which the New York Post deemed 'starship-sized.'

The newspaper added that: 'The monstrosity was choking business revenues and filling the streets with exhaust fumes...Now the I Am Legend actor will have to trek to the trailer to get his make-up done, confer with his personal writers and lounge in his marble-floored, 100-inch-screen film room – or walk less than a mile to his own $25,000-a-month Bond Street apartment.'

The delay was also said to be due to the lack of a movie-ready script, with it changing hands between different writers several times, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Back in February, a month before the movie commenced filming, Tommy Lee Jones even admitted he wasn't sure what the story was.

'There are vast pieces of the script yet unwritten,' he revealed to website Vulture.

Men in Black III will be released in the U.S. on May 25 next year.