Space Jam 2 is officially a go, marking the revitalisation of the most famous basketball film of all time, and heralding the first starring role for the sport’s uber-star LeBron James.
In a cheeky little teaser posted to the Twitter account of James’ production company SpringHill Entertainment, a few other notable names can be seen: in addition to Bugs Bunny, the animated cornerstone of the 1996 original, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is listed as the film’s producer.
Terence Nance, who helmed Random Acts Of Flyness, will direct the film – a cool 22 years after Michael Jordan, a fleet of NBA champs, a cartoon menagerie, and Bill Murray overcame the Monstars.
🏀 🥕 🎬 pic.twitter.com/Ay6wRaB915
— SpringHill (@makespringhill) September 19, 2018
“The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie,” James told The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams. And I think Ryan did that for a lot of people.”
The film is tentatively scheduled to enter production in the offseason of the 2019 NBA season, so it doesn’t actually draw big-name talent away from their day-to-day duties on the court.
No big-name cameos have been announced – yet – but it seems likely figures like Steph Curry and James Harden will square up against Yosemite Sam and Marvin The Martian.
It’s just the latest basketball-themed project to pop out of SpringHill Entertainment. Last week, it was revealed a sitcom script based on the story of Aussie baller Ben Simmons‘ family was sold to NBC, further indicating James’ trajectory from basketball deity to cultural mainstay.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments. For the time being:
