Will Smith has officially signed on for Men in Black 3, putting the Barry Sonnenfeld-directed Columbia Pictures sequel on course for a May 25, 2012, release, Deadline reports.

Deals are still being negotiated with co-stars Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. Word circulated last month that Jones was already set to reprise his role, but that apparently was premature.

Mike Fleming notes that the 3D picture will kick off a strong summer season for Sony, which will relaunch its Spider-Man franchise -- it's in 3D as well, naturally -- on July 3, 2012. MIB3 reportedly will employ a time-travel element that will move the action from the present day to 1969, where Brolin will play a younger version of Jones' Agent Kay character.

Based on the 1990s comic series by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, Men in Black centers on a secret law-enforcement agency that monitors and directs alien activity on Earth. The 1997 movie grossed more than $589 million worldwide, while the 2002 sequel raked in $442 million. The first film also spawned the animated Men in Black: The Series, which aired for four seasons on Kids' WB.

Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will return as producers of MIB3, with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer.