Reporting on casting rumors in Hollywood can be a tricky business. While it’s true that stuff leaks all the time and winds up being true, there are many instances when false information makes its way around town despite not actually holding any water. This article is about a case of the latter – specifically involving actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. and the developing Space Jam 2. See what I mean by clicking play on the video below:
I recently attended the Los Angeles press junket for the new Jonathan Levine comedy Long Shot, and while sitting down with O’Shea Jackson Jr. I took the opportunity to ask him about projects that he has in the works… or at least a project that I thought he had in the works. While preparing for the interview, I noticed on the actor’s IMDb page that he was listed as a co-star in Space Jam 2, and given the heat that project has I was curious about what kind of significance it had for him.
As it turns out, though, the Straight Outta Compton star actually has no relationship with the production at this current time, and had a rather funny reaction when I brought the movie up in conversation.
I was clearly not the first person to bring up Space Jam 2 that day, and the confusion that the fake casting rumor evoked from O’Shea Jackson Jr. was rather entertaining. While he did note it’s a project of which he’d like to be a part, at this time it is definitely not something with which he is currently involved. And this is despite the fact that the project is STILL listed on his IMDb page as one of his upcoming movies alongside Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy:
So what is going on with Space Jam 2? The long-awaited sequel, which has been developing for many years, is set to star LeBron James as himself, essentially taking over the role that Michael Jordan played in the 1996 original, and will see him on a special adventure featuring the familiar Looney Tunes stars. With Ryan Coogler on board as a producer, director Terence Nance is attached to make the movie as his second feature after the 2012 animated An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. There have been reports that the movie will co-star Star Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green, who will apparently be playing James’ wife, but given the situation with O’Shea Jackson Jr., it almost feels appropriate to throw that out there with a grain of salt until she personally confirms the casting.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if O’Shea Jackson Jr.-in-Space Jam 2 is a thing that really comes together, but the good news is that fans won’t have to wait until July 2021 to hypothetically see the actor back up on the big screen. Long Shot, which stars Jackson, Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, June Diane Raphael, Ravi Patel, and Andy Serkis, will be in theaters this Friday – and we’ll have more from my interviews with the cast and director coming very soon, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!
