
If you were a kid in the 1990s, Space Jam probably is one of your favorite movies.
Michael Jordan, a cast of NBA All-Stars, the Looney Tunes, Bill Murray and others all take part in the movie.
Although it scored a 45 percent by critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it has somewhat of a cult following. (Read this Grantland article to discover some of the joys and unintentional comedy of the film.)
We’ve known for a while now that Space Jam 2 is a thing. LeBron James will star in the movie, and production is taking place this summer.
Plenty of people joked that James ensured the Los Angeles Lakers missed the playoffs so he could begin filming the movie rather than suffer a smackdown against the Western Conference No. 1 seed.
Well, now we know the cast that will be participating in the movie in addition to James: Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul from the NBA, and Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike of the WNBA.
James and business partner Maverick Carter have spearheaded the remake, hiring “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler to produce and “Random Acts of Flyness” creator Terence Nance to direct.
It’s hard to imagine the remake being anything other than an emotional letdown to those who grew up loving the original version of the movie, but it’s very possible that it will do well at the box office.
It’s probably coincidental, but it’s interesting that Paul and James are about to work together on this project just as there are reports that Paul’s relationship with James Harden is fractured in Houston.
The Los Angeles Lakers, of course, just traded for Anthony Davis, and are pulling strings to free up enough cap space to be able to offer another max contract to a free agent.
James and Paul are fond of one another and it has long been rumored that they would eventually play together. But the Lakers gave up so many assets in the trade for Davis.
It also seems next to impossible that Houston would be able to move Paul’s huge contract for an aging point guard with a history of injuries.
At any rate, James, Davis and Paul will team up on the court to battle the Monstars in Space Jam 2, to be released in 2021.
It will be interesting to see Thompson’s role in the movie, as he just tore his ACL in the NBA Finals.
If there were a betting line for Space Jam 2, I’m taking the Monstars in the first half and I’m hammering James’ team on the live line when they fall behind.