Today on “Things I Didn’t Expect To Hear,” an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter has officially stated that Ryan Coogler will be producing the (for some reason) highly anticipated Space Jam sequel for Warner Brothers, with Terence Nance, creator of HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, directing. And surprising no one, LeBron James will star. The picture you see above was released through James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment’s social media feed.
This was one of those projects that’s been long rumored about and speculated for a while. And I honestly don’t have a clue as to why because the movie is very bad. Like, really, really bad. Even as a kid, I wasn’t a fan because as someone who loved the Looney Tunes, I felt the film went out of its way to portray the characters I liked in ways that completely went against what made them so appealing and fun. I don’t understand the nostalgia for it, but it’s apparently enough of it to get folks excited for this.
Granted, my issues with that original film could theoretically be fixed with a sequel, given the new talent involved. And that’s where this gets interesting. I haven’t seen Random Acts of Flyness, but I hear nothing but great things about it. Coogler could do pretty much anything after the major success of Black Panther, so for him to latch on to this project is rather compelling. James apparently loved Coogler’s vision for Black Panther, which inspired him to sign on to the project. He also said this:
“The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie. It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams. And I think Ryan did that for a lot of people.”
Stranger things have happened before, I suppose. I remember when Justin Lin was going to helm this. He was a solid choice, but not a particularly surprising one. Ryan Coogler is one of those filmmakers I will follow anywhere, so if he really believes in this project, then this is something that I’ll keep my eye on.
The film will begin production in 2019, during off-season.