After years of talk, Space Jam 2 is finally happening. The long-awaited sequel has been greenlit and will star NBA All-Star LeBron James, with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler set to produce.
The original Space Jam movie starred NBA legend Michael Jordan and opened in theaters back in 1996. Ever since, talk about a sequel has circulated with a new NBA player set to star. During the mid-2000s, Kobe Bryant was the name attached to the project before talk turned to LeBron James. However, the project never materialized and thus was thought to have been dead until news came out the the sequel was officially happening.
The news was revealed through a tongue-in-cheek teaser on Instagram of some of the big players of the movie, including director Terence Nance, producer Ryan Coogler and stars LeBron James and Bugs Bunny.
Nabbing Ryan Coogler to serve as producer is a big coup for the movie as the Black Panther director is one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood right now. When talking about Coogler, LeBron James raved about his work on Black Panther and what it meant to see the first black superhero on screen.
“I loved his vision,” James said. “So for Ryan to be able to bring that to kids, it’s amazing.”
No word yet on a release date for Space Jam 2, but it will commence production some time 2019 during the NBA off-season.
