First Photos From SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY and New Story Details That Include LeBron James Passing Through Other WB Films
LeBron James has been working on getting his film Space Jam: A New Legacy made for years, and it’s finally happened. Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we have a collection of first-look photos to share with you along with some details on the film.
The film is being produced by Ryan Coogler and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film also stars Star Trek: Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green, who was cast as LeBron's wife. Don Cheadle also has a role in the film and Cedric Joe will play James’s son Dom in the story along with Ceyair Wright who plays the older son Darius, and Harper Leigh Alexander as his daughter Xosha.
As for the story, it’s explained that James plays a heightened version of himself, and he is struggling to relate his son Dom, “who's much more interested in creating games than playing them.” Ryan Coogler goes on to say:
“When Dom's tech skills draw the attention of a CGI humanoid named Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle), the father-son duo get sucked into the Warner 3000 entertainment ‘Server-verse,’ with the A.I. kidnapping Dom in the hopes of stealing some of the King's followers. Cheadle doesn't consider Al G a bad guy (what bad guy does?), but rather ‘an A.I. with a chip on his shoulder.
“This being a Space Jam movie, a basketball game settles things once and for all. To save his son and escape this virtual reality, James must round up the Tunes, including a banished Bugs, to defeat the formidable Goon Squad. Much of the early discussion on New Legacy centered on the reintroduction of Bugs, Lola Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and the rest of the Tune Squad. ‘Kids are [now] more likely to watch other kids' YouTube channels than cartoons,’ Coogler says. ‘It was a bit challenging to think about, but we were reminded very quickly why the Looney Tunes work. When we watch the parts of the film [featuring] the Tunes, you have a smile come over your face because, if you're from our generation, you miss them.”
Lee then explains that when James is sucked into the WB server, he will find himself passing through some of the studios famous films as he tracks down his squad:
“It was a tricky thing just in terms of what you may want, like, 'Oh my God, look, there's Mad Max, and there's Casablanca! (James also mentioned The Matrix and Wonder Woman as part of the WB look back, though no title is confirmed yet.) In addition to entering these worlds, we have a lot of the WB characters at the game, watching like they do at Rucker Park.”
Rucker Park is a reference to the historic NYC street court. So, as you can see, things get pretty damn wild! I wasn’t expecting that kind of story, but it sounds like fun! Obviously, there are going to be all kinds of WB movie Easter eggs to look out for.
Lee goes on to talk about James’s performance and teases the emotional depth he brings to the film saying, "We go deeper and attempt to tug at the heartstrings.” He also admits to "getting a little misty" thinking about a particular scene where James "just delivered."
Space Jam: A New Legacy is set to be released on July 16th, 2021. What do you think about the story details, does this sound like it’ll be a fun flick?
