Fans have been talking about a sequel to Space Jam starring Lebron James for a while and the project may be about to take a big step forward. Reportedly, the production is looking at Terence Nance, the producer of the new HBO series Random Acts of Flyness to take on the role of directing the film. While Nance directed all six of the initial episodes of the series, Space Jam 2 would be his first major motion picture.
It's been about a year since it was reported that Justin Lin was attached to direct the project and was also working on the script. However, The Wrap now reports that Andrew Dodge, who previously wrote the Jason Bateman comedy Bad Words has handled the screenwriting responsibilities and that Terrance Nance is now being considered for the director's chair.
It's been several years since the first rumors of a Space Jam 2 starring Lebron James came out and while there didn't seem to be much evidence of the rumors being real at first, three years ago Lebron signed a production deal with Warner Bros., who happened to own the rights to Space Jam. From there movement on a sequel began, though it's clearly been slow going as this is the first concrete news we've heard of any real momentum in some time.
The original Space Jam came out in 1996 and starred Michael Jordan alongside the Looney Tunes in a plot that saw them team up to take on a group of animated alien invaders in a basketball game. It was a paper-thin plot but the film was basically a feature-length version of a series of popular Nike commercials, so what did you expect? Having said that, Lebron has shown some real talent in front of the camera before, so maybe there's hope for the sequel to really be good.
One certainly has to wonder if Lebron James' decision to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers might actually be a major benefit to the project moving forward. Justin Lin had previously said that scheduling was a major hurdle to getting the move made since so many of the actors would be professional athletes. The fact that Lebron will be spending a lot more time in Southern CA in the future may help remedy this issue. Who else might join Lebron in the film from the current NBA is anybody's guess, but I'm guessing there are plenty of players who would be interested.
If nothing else, a Space Jam 2 would succeed in getting the Looney Tunes back on the big screen, a place they haven't been in years. It would be nice to Bugs and Daffy and the gang doing anything in a theatrical release, even if it was a contrived excuse to get them all playing basketball again.
