After finally, officially being announced last September,Space Jam 2is gearing up for production this summer. There has been a lot of talk over the years of doing a sequel to Michael Jordan’s 1996 movie, which features a blend of live-action and animation, with the former NBA star playing basketball alongside the Looney Tunes. That talk finally materialized, with LeBron James taking on the lead role in the long-awaited sequel, which will finally begin filming in just a few months.
The current star of the Los Angeles Lakers was recently doing an interview in front of a large crowd during the NBA’s All Star Weekend. At one point,LeBron Jameswas asked what he has coming up, at which point he reminded the crowd that he’s going to be inSpace Jam 2. They went nuts, but he also dropped in that filming is set to begin this summer. Here’s what he had to say.
“I’ve got Space Jam. I’m gonna be in Space Jam 2. We start filming that this summer.”
In addition to starring in the sequel, LeBron James also serves as an executive producer through hisSpringHill Entertainment production company. James has been trying to break into Hollywood while his NBA career is still going strong, but is setting up his future quite nicely. He’s also attached to produce aFriday the 13threboot, as well as aHouse Partyremake.Space Jam 2, meanwhile, will beproduced by Ryan Coogler, director of the Oscar-nominated blockbusterBlack Panther, with up-and-comer Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) on board to direct. In an interview with Vice earlier this year, Nance hyped up the project, without giving away anything specific.
“Pretty sure [it’s] going to disrupt everything. I’m excited about what that movie can be.”
The original Space Jam was directed by Joe Pytka and centers on Michael Jordan, who is currently playing professional baseball and isn’t in theNBA, teaming up with the Looney Tunes to take down the evil Monstars in a game of basketball. It has remained quite popular over the years, as many 90s kids feel rather nostalgic about it. Despite not being a huge critical success, the movie did very well commercially, grossing $230 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing basketball movie ever made.
LeBron James has had some acting experience previously, having starred in the comedyTrainwreck, in addition to doing voicework in projects likeSmallfoot. That gives him a slight advantage over Michael Jordan heading into the sequel. For his part, it doesn’t look like James will be busy with the NBA playoffs this year, unless something changes, since the Lakers are underdogs to make the postseason. The good news is, that will give him more time to focus on this.Space Jam 2does not yet have a release date set. Feel free to check out the interview clip fromThe Crossover Twitteraccount below.
