Few comedy franchises epitomize politically incorrect entertainment like Police Academy did in the ‘80s. What began as an R-rated mashup of the decade’s basic training-centric movies Stripes and An Officer and a Gentleman became the biggest surprise hit of 1984. It made an unlikely star out of Steve Guttenberg as the charismatic straight man Cadet Carey Mahoney. Similarly, his fellow ragtag cadets became comedy icons, including human sound effects funnyman Michael Winslow, ex-football star Bubba Smith, and the screechy-voiced Bobcat Goldwait. With insensitive sight gags that translated perfectly in foreign territories, Police Academy evolved into a PG-rated brand spawning six sequels, an animated series, a toy line, and a short-lived syndicated television show.
Like any successful franchise, however, each Police Academy sequel fell victim to studio politics, resulting in overexposure and a decline in quality that made the public at large plead for the insanity to end. By the 2010s, the success of 21 Jump Street inspired Academy franchise producer Paul Maslansky and New Line Cinema to make an eighth installment featuring a new cast with potential cameos from veteran fan favorites. After a few initial attempts stalled, the executives eventually turned to the revolutionary comedy duo of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for a modern edge to the long-dormant franchise. Unfortunately, career circumstances and some challenging times in America dealt a massive blow to Key and Peele’s Police Academy reboot.
The Real World Vision For Key And Peele’s ‘Police Academy’
For five seasons, the sketch comedy series Key & Peelemastered the art of satirizing race relations in the United States. Maslansky saw talent in the comedy duo when they were brought on to produce a new Police Academy installment in 2014. While the producer expected Key and Peele to reboot the series with fresh-faced stars and to retain some franchise hallmarks like Robert Folk’s memorable title theme, the duo had other ideas.
In 2016, Key revealed the vision he and Peele had pitched for a 2010s-era Police Academy, inspired by David Ayer’s cop drama End of Watch and Robert Altman’s Korean War satire M*A*S*H. Instead of leaning on the series’ signature screwball comedy bits, Key and Peele aimed for a grounded but hilarious look at modern America in ways the original movies avoided. Additionally, the duo planned to preserve some of Academy’s frequent plot devices, including the use of “the biggest technology from the ‘80s in the set pieces.”
Having joined the project as producers, it was never confirmed if Key and Peele would also star in their Police Academy reboot, though they revealed in an interview with Vulture that they’d though about it. But original franchise star Guttenberg expressed excitement about their involvement at the time of the announcement. Such excitement could not be shared by New Line when Key and Peele’s first movie hit theaters.
Key And Peele’s Career Crossroads Derailed The ‘Police Academy’ Reboot
In the spring of 2016, Key and Peele headlined New Line’s John Wick-inspired Keanu, playing a pair of cousins trying to rescue their cat from a street gang. Despite positive reviews, Keanu was not the breakout commercial hit that New Line had hoped for. With Police Academy already notorious for its diminishing box office returns (1994’s Police Academy: Mission to Moscow grossed $126,247 in the U.S. on a $10 million budget), the studio likely had cold feet about Key and Peele turning out another dud installment. Especially one that would have subverted the series’ signature comedy style.
Then there was Peele’s breakout moment. A year after Keanu underperformed, Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out, turned the sketch comedian into a universally praised cinematic auteur and, eventually, an Oscar-winning screenwriter. With offers coming from the major studios to helm their tentpole projects, Peele opted to focus on his original material with Us and Nope instead. Between Peele’s filmmaking success and Key carving his own path as a voiceover artist with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and other animated projects, the eighth Police Academy reverted into development hell.
‘Police Academy’ Is Too Divisive To Make Today
Aside from Key and Peele’s career priorities changing, the present climate of American culture makes Police Academy too risky to produce 40 years after the original movie hit cinemas. Between the running Blue Oyster Bar gag, racially-insensitive characters, and the era’s sex romp tropes, the low-brow humor of the series has become long outdated to be embraced for nostalgia. Adding to the cringe elements of the series is the ongoing real-world tension between minority communities and police departments nationwide in the wake of senseless tragedies in the headlines. Though Key and Peele could have brought light to the subject matter in a Police Academy reboot, it would have come at the risk of dividing audiences rather than bringing them together for the sake of escapist entertainment.
As of 2024, there has been no movement on the Police Academy reboot. Though Guttenberg continues to tease that the new installment is on the way, his co-stars have either passed on or avoided the franchise outright. With no further news of its development status at New Line, perhaps this is an ’80s property that should remain permanently retired.
Police Academy is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
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