The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Men in Black III started shooting today in New York City, and that screenwriter Jeff Nathanson has come aboard to write a new draft of the screenplay.

Some intriguing production details were also revealed about the sequel, which will be filming until the week of Christmas before shutting down for the holidays. Instead of resuming production in January, like most productions, Men in Black III will be on hiatus until mid-February. Although such long breaks are rare for a big-budget movie like this, it seems that the shut-down was built in to work around the winter months so they can shoot exteriors in warmer weather. Here's what producer Walter F. Parkes had to say about the unorthodox schedule:

"We had to start shooting this year to take advantage of New York State tax incentives, but we also needed to be able to shoot certain exteriors in warmer weather. So back in July we had the idea to keep the start date but build in a hiatus so we could essentially extend the production to late spring."

The shooting that has started today will focus on the present-day material, while the February shoot will primarily revolve around the 1969 storyline. Jeff Nathanson was brought onto work on the time travel elements of the story, where Will Smith's Agent Jay goes back in time to 1969 and meets a young Agent Kay, who will be played by Josh Brolin. Tommy Lee Jones is reprising his Agent Kay in the present-day storyline of the sequel.