After years in development hell and talks of a sequel, we can FINALLY say that Space Jam 2 is officially happening. LeBron James will take over Michael Jordan's role as a human basketball player who joins forces with the Looney Tunes to win a basketball game against aliens. The sequel's release date was officially announced by James' production company, SpringHill Entertainment.
Space Jam 2 is officially coming to theaters on July 16, 2021. SpringHill Entertainment brought the news to life over on its Twitter account and posted a teaser to go alongside it. The post features basketball star LeBron James in the Tune Squad uniform, with Bugs Bunny and Lola Bunny standing beside him.
Interesting side note: Lola Bunny has top billing over Bugs Bunny on the poster. Is this a tease that she's receiving a beefed up role in the sequel? She was the only prominent female character and she was heavily sexualized in the first film, so maybe they can stand to update her a bit.
For those who may not remember or been alive during the '90s, Space Jam was a live-action-animation hybrid that saw the Looney Tunes recruiting Michael Jordan to help them win a basketball game so that they wouldn't be enslaved by an alien theme park. Yeah, it was pretty wild and there was nothing else like it in 1996, which likely led to it becoming so nostalgic for fans today.
Not only that, but the movie will be filming this summer. LeBron James confirmed as much during this video posted by The Crossover on Twitter. Check it out!
This is no doubt exciting for fans who are nostalgic for Space Jam. I am one of those people, though I recognize the movie is probably not nearly as good as a remember it as a kid. Still, it'll be interesting to see what they do with the sequel. The first Space Jam had a lot of athlete cameos, including Bill Murray, who had the funniest part in the movie. I'd wager Space Jam 2 will also feature cameos from today's most popular athletes.
I'm also curious to see what audience they target for this. It looks like a cross-generational nostalgia based film, targeting fans of the old movie, families, and fans of LeBron James. In 1996, a movie like this was far more unique than it is today, when IP-based reboots, remakes, and sequels happen all the time. It'll be interesting to see if Space Jam 2 can be more than a retread of the first movie.
Space Jam 2 is directed by Terence Nance with Justin Lin and Ryan Coogler onboard as producers. The sequel is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 16, 2021. For everything else hitting theaters, here's our 2019 movie release guide.
