When Space Jam came out in 1996, it caught the imagination of the basketball world, as for the first Michael Jordan was accessible to the world on a silver screen.
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In collaboration with the ‘Looney tunes’, Michael Jordan gave a memorable performance, also helping basketball get the global audience that it deserved.
While Michael’s on court performance has been good enough to attract a global audience, the film helped reach out to a larger non-sport viewing audience as well.
The brand grew and Space Jam became one of the most celebrated basketball movies of all time.
Now, with Michael Jordan having retired, the franchise was looking for another global superstar to become the face of the sequel of Space Jam. And who better than LeBron to take up the mantle.
LeBron has been Jordan’s closest competitor in terms of being referred to as the ‘GOAT’. The Lakers man has openly admitted that the comeback win against the Warriors in 2016 made him feel like the greatest player of all time.
And while he might be wrong in feeling that the ‘GOAT’ title has passed on from Michael to him; he certainly has the ‘Space Jam protagonist’ title to his name for the time being.
Space Jam 2 director, Terence Nance is excited about the project and believes that the film would ‘disrupt everything’. The film is scheduled to start filming on June 17th 2019
“Pretty sure [it’s] going to disrupt everything,” Nance admitted.
“I’m excited about what […] that movie can be.” he added.
Terence spoke highly of LeBron, admitting that he is the best basketball player in the world at the moment and a performer par excellence.
“Space Jam is a very unique opportunity because LeBron James is the best basketball player on Earth and a once in a generation performer,” Nance said.
“Whoever the greatest basketball player of the next generation is going to be, they are probably not going to also be a great actor.
“Growing up being an animator, someone who loves to draw, I’m just super enthused to work in the cannon, learning in a more deep way about it, bringing what I bring from a media innovation standpoint.” he added.
LeBron is currently recovering from a groin injury, one that he sustained during the Christmas day win agains the Warriors.
It has been more than a month that LeBron has been out of action and the Lakers have suffered massively.
There has been a dip in their surge to secure that playoff spot and the Lakers would be hoping that LeBron can get back to full fitness as soon as possible.
As far as Space Jam is considered, of course there would be comparisons between the two films, very much so how there is an ongoing comparison between Jordan and LeBron’s career.
