"He Wasn't Happy": With 7 Films, This Cult Saga from the 80s Was Supposed to Get a Reboot... But Things Didn't Go as Planned

Nearly thirty years after its last installment, "Police Academy" was supposed to make its grand return with a reboot led by Jordan Peele. However, due to behind-the-scenes tensions and a sensitive context in the United States, this project never came to fruition.

A franchise that became a cult classic. In 1984, "Police Academy" directed by Hugh Wilson was released, a comedy in which the mayor decides to open the police academy in his city to everyone. Thus, anyone can apply and undergo training to join the law enforcement. However, this initiative does not have the desired effect, as the recruitment mainly attracts quirky and incompetent individuals. Nevertheless, these novices are eager to prove that they can become good police officers despite their eccentricities.

$149.8 Million

Following the success of the original film, which grossed $149.8 million worldwide, six feature films followed between 1985 and 1994. While the sequels were less well-received by critics, they still performed well commercially, with approximately $391 million in revenue. This is why, a few years later, the idea of rebooting the comedic saga was proposed. The project began to take shape in 2008 with Paul Maslansky recruited to direct this eighth installment. However, as the years went by, the remake faced numerous setbacks.

In 2012, New Line Cinema announced that Scott Zabielski would finally be behind the camera while the script was being rewritten. In 2014, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele joined the team to produce "Police Academy 8". In 2018, Steve Guttenberg, who played Carey Mahoney, the hero of the first four chapters, assured that the sequel was still in the works, but it ultimately never saw the light of day. So what happened? Ike Barinholtz revealed the behind-the-scenes details of this disappointment on his podcast "Funny You Ask".

Tense Relationships

While hosting Joel McHale in an episode published on June 17, 2026, the actor who plays Jimmy in "Neighbors" shared that he had written a script for the "Police Academy" reboot years ago with his colleague David Stassen. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were expected to take on the lead roles. "The guy who created the first film was part of the project. We were told: 'We want you to write the film, make it irreverent, rated R, and modern,'" he recalled. While the duo had no obligation to follow his recommendations, the man made numerous comments: "But we would never have done that in the first film. Never, ever, ever. Oh no, no, no. Mahoney would never say that." And he insisted that the original cast appear in the film. He wasn't happy.

The Context Wasn't Right

Moreover, while the duo was working on this feature film, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American, was shot on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, by a police officer. This tragedy sparked several days of protests against police violence. "As we were developing this project for Key and Peele at that time, people started saying: 'We're not going to make a police comedy now, with these two extremely funny black actors in the role of police officers,'" explained Ike Barinholtz. Will an eighth installment ever see the light of day? That's uncertain.