This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Space Jam, one of the great movies of our time, will finally be getting a sequel, and LeBron James is slated to star.
Word of a possible sequel to the 1996 cult classic has been swirling on the interwebs since last year, when Warner Bros. filed new trademarks for Space Jam in June of 2015, and James and his company SpringHill Entertainment signed a deal with the studio the month after.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, director Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond) is in talks to helm the sequel and Andrew Dodge has signed on to write the script. James (and, presumably, the Looney Tunes cast) will star. Sources tell the Hollywood Reporter that it's still early in the process, but Lin and Dodge are currently collaborating on a script.
The original Space Jam movie, which Roger Ebert called "a happy marriage of good ideas," was a live action/animation hybrid that starred Michael Jordan and a collection of Looney Tunes characters who came together to defend their freedom against aliens with a game of hoops. The film, which remains the highest-grossing basketball movie of all time, also featured Bill Murray in an umbrella hat.
Space Jam was tragically shut out of the 1997 Academy Awards, although R. Kelly did snag three Grammys for his song "I Believe I Can Fly," which was written for the film.
In recent years, Space Jam has also received revived publicity for its original website. The pioneering site, which was one of the very first made to promote a movie, has lived on, unchanged, like a strange fossil from a bygone world. It went viral in 2010 and was the subject of 4,765-word Rolling Stone profile in 2015.
It is not yet known if Bill Murray or Michael Jordan will reprise their roles (as themselves).
