LeBron James' much-anticipated movie "Space Jam: A New Legacy" is finally out. The film, released in theaters and HBO Max on Friday, July 16, is the long-awaited sequel to Michael Jordan's highly popular 1996 movie "Space Jam."
The original "Space Jam" movie was a pop culture phenomenon, making a whopping $250.2 million in the box office in 1996. Not bad for a film that was the first movie to be shot in a virtual studio and had a budget of $80 million that was huge at that time. It certainly helped that the film's creators had Michael Jordan as their star.
Jordan made 'Space Jam' a box office hit
Jordan was already a global icon at that time, and this film even made him a bigger star. The Chicago Bulls legend leveraged his talent and charisma into success on the big screen, with Jordan teaming up with classic cartoon character Bugs Bunny in this family-friendly film.
The original "Space Jam" idea came to fruition when Jordan shot a commercial for Nike back in 1992 for Super Bowl XXVI. In that advertisement, "Air Jordan" teamed up with Bugs Bunny aka "Hare Jordan," as they faced a group of bullies playing basketball. That concept was recreated the following year in another commercial with Jordan and Bugs squaring off, this time against aliens.
Given the positive reception towards those two commercials, Jordan's agent David Falk convinced Warner Bros. to do a feature film with Jordan and Bugs Bunny. That proved to be a masterstroke as Jordan's film became a box-office hit. That paved the way for subsequent athletes to also dream of Hollywood success, including LeBron James.
Ever since he was in high school, James has been regularly compared to Michael Jordan. Debate continues to rage up to this date on who is the greatest basketball player between the two sporting icons.
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LeBron enters the Hollywood world with 'Space Jam' sequel
James, however, has made no secret of his desire to match Jordan even with his Hollywood exploits as well. LeBron's dream to follow in his idol's footsteps started seven years ago with Hollywood website Deadline reporting that Warner Bros. had hired broadcasting veteran Dick Ebersol's sons, Charlie and Willie Ebersol, to develop the "Space Jam" sequel as a starring vehicle for the then-Miami Heat star.
Rumors of LeBron starring in the sequel gained even more traction the following year when James signed a production deal with Warner Bros. following his acting debut in the movie "Trainwreck."
When LeBron decided to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in July 2018, it was only a matter of time before he began work with "Space Jam 2." That is certainly what happened as Academy Award nominee Ryan Coogler of "Creed" and "Black Panther" fame was announced as a producer.
Then on June 20, 2019, the All-Star cast for the film was finally unveiled with Damian Lillard (Chronos), Anthony Davis (The Brow), Nneka Ogwumike (Arachnneka), Diana Taurasi (White Mamba), and Klay Thompson (Wet-Fire) named as the antagonists. Chris Paul, Draymond Green, and Kyle Kuzma were also slated to appear in the film.
The movie, however, was plagued with numerous production changes, with Malcolm D. Lee replacing Terrance Nance as director at one point and the film having six different screenwriters.
Regarding the film's quality, the reviews, unfortunately, are not that great. "Space Jam: A New Legacy" currently holds a 32 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes through 122 reviews and a 36 on Metacritic through 35 reviews.
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