It’s one of the more surprising sequels to come around in recent years. Space Jam 2 has been in development for more than two decades, and after several false starts, it’s finally in production. High time it got an official title then, don’t you think? Well, you’d think right.
That was me subtlety leading into the story. Star of the new movie, LeBron James, announced the new title on his Instagram page today and it looks like the film will be called… drum roll… pause for suspense… dramatic misdirection… Space Jam: A New Legacy. Boom, big reveal. New title, new legacy. Hope it was worth the preamble.
The movie is currently scheduled to release on July 16th 2021, though with the disruption caused by the pandemic, that’s liable to change.
I have to confess, I know next to nothing about the original Space Jam, other than it starred basketball player Michael Jordan as a fictionalized version of himself, and was successful at the box office. I also have to confess that I know next to nothing about Space Jam: A New Legacy, other than it’ll star basketball player LeBron James as a fictionalized version of himself, and has every chance of being successful at the box office, too.
What are your thoughts on the new title, though? It’s nothing spectacular, but you might have deeply held, emotionally charged opinions of unforeseen importance that simply must be aired. Or, like me, you may merely be surprised that a sequel to Space Jam is even in production. Then you find yourself glancing over its Wikipedia article to find it has a slated budget of… no, that can’t be right. $161.9 million? Frankly, if Space Jam: A New Legacy doesn’t look like Blade Runner 2049, we all deserve a refund. As do the studio. 80% of that is probably LeBron’s fee.
