As of last night, the NBA has officially suspended the season until further notice in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has already affected an NBA player. So basketball fans will be without the NBA for the time being, but fortunately, they can still watch the Monstars face off with the Tune Squad from the uncontaminated comfort of their own homes. That’s because Space Jam is now on Netflix and people can’t get enough.
Earlier this year, Netflix introduced a Top 10 feature, which highlights the most watched TV shows and movies on the streaming service in any given day. Well, the 1996 animation/live-action hybrid Space Jam starring Michael Jordan just landed on Netflix at the beginning of the month and it has proven quite popular.
Space Jam has been at least as high as fifth on the overall Top 10 list and is currently sitting at number three for the Top 10 movies on Netflix in the U.S. That puts Space Jam just behind the Netflix original Spenser Confidential and The Angry Birds Movie 2 and ahead of Freaks and the sadly relevant Contagion, which has seen a spike in popularity given current events.
It seems that like with Contagion,current events are also part of Space Jam's current popularity on the streaming giant. Take a look:
Yes, for those of you who haven't seen Space Jam in a while and have yet to pull it up on Netflix, the current scenario with the NBA and the Coronavirus bears some striking parallels to the events of Joe Pytka's film. In Space Jam, the Nerdlucks steal the talents of five star NBA players (Charles Barkley, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues) to become the powerful Monstars. This causes a worldwide panic that results in the suspension of the NBA season.
Needless to say, many on Twitter took note of this.
That might look like a scene out of Contagion, but it is actually from the family sports film Space Jam. Many of us rightfully knew that we were already living in the darkest timeline, we just didn't know that the darkest timeline and the Space Jam timeline were one in the same. Nevertheless, Space Jam had a happy ending and many are looking to that film, hoping for a similar result this time around. Take a look:
Yeah Bugs, MJ, where you at? Your skills are greatly needed in this trying time. It is certainly strange and interesting how many are seeing parallels between Space Jam and our current situation. To add to the eeriness of that fact, Space Jam arrived on DVD and VHS on March 11, 1997, 23 years to the day that the NBA would suspend its season. It appears that much like The Simpsons, Space Jam has too proven prophetic.
What is it about cartoon properties that gives them such predictive qualities? I’m not sure, but just as Nostradamus used astrology to make prophecies about the future, a modern day seer or charlatan might do well to study animated works to come up with predictions about what might happen next. Another view of the situation is that this is all related to Space Jam 2. Take a look:
If this is indeed part of a massive marketing campaign for Space Jam 2, it has long since gone way too far. The long-anticipated sequel is still in the works and is set for release next summer. The film will be directed by Malcolm D. Lee and star LeBron James and a host of actors and NBA players. Hopefully the Coronavirus situation is solved long before then.
Space Jam 2 opens in theaters on July 16, 2021. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what movies you can look forward to this year.
