Space Jam: A New Legacy

Space Jam: A New Legacy (also known as Space Jam 2) is an upcoming American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, from a screenplay by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, and Terence Nance. Serving as a sequel to Space Jam (1996), it will mark the first theatrically-released film to feature the Looney Tunes characters since Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and like the previous hybrid films, it will be a combination of live-action and traditional hand drawn 2D animation with some CGI effects. The film stars basketball player LeBron James (who also acts as a producer) as a fictionalized version of himself along with Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe in live-action roles. It also features numerous Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, and Foghorn Leghorn (all of whom are voiced by Jeff Bergman), as well as Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian (both voiced by Eric Bauza), among others.

Talks for a Space Jam successor began after the release of the first film which Joe Pytka would have returned to direct and Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone signed on as the animation supervisors but eventually fell through due to Michael Jordan's refusal to return. Several possible spin-offs, focusing on other athletes, including Jeff Gordon, Tiger Woods, and Tony Hawk, were also discussed, but never came to fruition. A LeBron James-led sequel was officially announced in 2014 and after several years of languishing, filming began under Nance in June 2019 around Los Angeles. After a few weeks into filming, Nance left the project and Lee was hired to replace him in July 2019. Production wrapped in September 2019.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on July 16, 2021, both in theaters and on HBO Max for a month after its theatrical release.

Premise
When basketball champion and global icon LeBron James and his young son Dom (Cedric Joe) – who dreams of being a video game developer – are trapped in a virtual space by a rogue algorithm named Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle), LeBron must get them home safe by leading Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Lola Bunny and the whole gang of notoriously undisciplined Looney Tunes to victory over the Al-G's digitized champions, the Goon Squad on the court.

Cast

 * LeBron James as himself
 * Alex Huerta as young LeBron James
 * Don Cheadle as Al-G Rhythm, an evil computer algorithm.
 * Khris Davis
 * Sonequa Martin-Green as Kamiyah James, LeBron's wife
 * Cedric Joe as Dom James, LeBron's youngest son
 * Ceyair J. Wright as Darius James, LeBron's eldest son
 * Harper Leigh Alexander as Xosha James, LeBron's daughter

Additionally, National Basketball Association (NBA) players Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Draymond Green, and Kyle Kuzma as well as Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) players Diana Taurasi, Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike are set to make cameo appearances.

Voice cast

 * Jeff Bergman as Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam and Fred Flintstone
 * Eric Bauza as Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian
 * Bob Bergen as Porky Pig and Tweety
 * Zendaya as Lola Bunny
 * Gabriel Iglesias as Speedy Gonzales
 * Billy West as Elmer Fudd
 * Candi Milo as Granny
 * Fred Tatasciore as Gossamer
 * Jim Cummings as Tasmanian Devil
 * Paul Julian as Road Runner (archival recordings)

Development
A sequel to Space Jam was planned as early as 1997, shortly after the original film was released in theaters worldwide. As development began, Space Jam 2 was going to involve a new basketball competition between Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes and Berserk-O!, a new villain. Artist Bob Camp was tasked with designing Berserk-O! and his henchmen. Joe Pytka would have returned to direct and Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone signed on as the animation supervisors. However, Michael Jordan did not agree to star in a sequel. According to Camp, a producer lied to design artists by claiming that Jordan had signed on in order to keep development going. Warner Bros. eventually cancelled plans for Space Jam 2.

Development
A sequel to Space Jam was planned as early as 1997, shortly after the original film was released in theaters worldwide. As development began, Space Jam 2 was going to involve a new basketball competition between Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes and a new villain named Berserk-O!. Artist Bob Camp was tasked with designing Berserk-O! and his henchmen. Joe Pytka would have returned to direct and Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone signed on as the animation supervisors. However, Michael Jordan did not agree to star in a sequel. According to Camp, a producer lied to design artists by claiming that Jordan had signed on in order to keep development going. Warner Bros. eventually canceled plans for Space Jam 2.

The potential sequel reentered development as Spy Jam and was to star Jackie Chan in a different script. The studio was also planning a film titled Race Jam which would have starred Jeff Gordon. Additionally, Pytka revealed that following the first film's success, he had been pitched a story for a sequel that would have starred professional golfer Tiger Woods, with Jordan in a smaller role. Pytka explained how the idea came from an out of studio script conference, with people who worked on the original film allegedly involved. Producer Ivan Reitman was reportedly in favor of a film which would again star Jordan. The follow-up films were ultimately canceled in favor of Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). A film titled Skate Jam was in early development with Tony Hawk in the starring role. Plans were underway for production to begin immediately following the release of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but were canceled due to the poor financial performance of said film despite improved critical reception to Space Jam.

Resurgence
In February 2014, Warner Bros. officially announced development of a sequel that will star LeBron James. Charlie Ebersol was set to produce, while Willie Ebersol wrote the script. By May of the same year, James was quoted as saying, "I've always loved Space Jam. It was one of my favorite movies growing up. If I have the opportunity, it will be great." In July 2015, James and his film studio, SpringHill Entertainment, signed a deal with Warner Bros. for television, film and digital content after receiving positive reviews for his role in Trainwreck. By 2016, Justin Lin signed onto the project as director, and co-screenwriter with Andrew Dodge and Alfredo Botello. In September 2018, Ryan Coogler was announced as a producer for the film. SpringHill Entertainment released a promotional teaser image officially announcing the film, Filming was to take place in California within a 30 mile radius of Los Angeles. By April 2019, Coogler and Searching screenwriter Sev Ohanian were rewriting the script. Final screenplay credit would ultimately go to Juel Taylor & Tony Rettenmaier & Keenan Coogler & Terance Nance. Prior to production, the film received $21.8 million in tax credits as a result of a new tax incentive program from the state.

Filming
Principal photography began on June 25, 2019. On July 16, 2019, it was announced Nance was leaving the project because he and "the studio/producers had different takes on the creative vision for Space Jam 2", and that Malcolm D. Lee would serve as his replacement.

Among locations used for filming included the Sheats–Goldstein Residence owned by James Goldstein, including turning its tennis court temporarily into a basketball court for the shooting. Production wrapped on September 16, 2019. The production spent at total of $183.7 million filming in California, receiving $23.8 million in tax rebates from the state. James held a farewell meeting talking about how he idolized with the first Space Jam film when he was a kid in Akron, Ohio, when the production wrapped, which was later leaked on August 16, 2020, along with pictures of James with his #6 Tune Squad outfit. A scene filmed under Nance's direction in June 2019 involving Pepé Le Pew attempting to flirt with a bartender (portrayed by Greice Santo), only to be rebuffed, was deleted.

In March 2020, photos taken on set and a brief recording of the wrap party were leaked online, revealing that the film will feature characters from other Warner-owned properties. On April 30, 2020, James officially revealed the title and logo of the movie, via Instagram, as Space Jam: A New Legacy. One of the actors, Don Cheadle, said in interviews that LeBron was suffering from an injury during the filming and the filmmakers shot 14 hours a day, the kind that the cast and James were not used to. He also said that he was "working out like a horse". On October 18, 2020, the synopsis was leaked from a test screening email by Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and Final Space writer Ben Mekler.

Animation, voice acting, and visual effects
Lucasfilm's visual effects division Industrial Light & Magic was hired to create the visual effects for Space Jam 2. This is the second collaboration with the Looney Tunes in using ILM for visual effects since Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Veteran Walt Disney animator Tony Bancroft, best known for his work on The Lion King, Mulan, and The Emperor's New Groove, started working at Warner Bros. Animation in January 2020 for the film. On March 26, 2020, James revealed that work on the film's animation has begun. He also said that production on the film has been largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as most of the work left on the film involves animation. A day later, the Bancroft Brothers confirmed that Spike Brandt, a Warner Bros. Animation veteran and an animator on the original Space Jam, would be directing the animation.

According to voice actor Eric Bauza on May 27, 2020, the animation was still being worked on and he had voiced some temporary dialogue while neither confirming nor denying his involvement with the final product. Bauza also said that he does some scratch dialogue as the writers "punch up story lines and jokes". Dan Haskett, who has been working for the Looney Tunes since 1979, is working on the animation as well. Matt Williames, who has not worked with Warner Bros. since Looney Tunes: Back in Action, started doing animation for the movie in August 2020. In May 2020, Ole Loken, who worked on Klaus, confirmed that he was animating on the film. On October 13, Loken shared the design for Lola Bunny on Twitter, confirming that the movie will stay true to designs of the Looney Tunes characters in the 1996 version. He also shared the design for Daffy Duck on October 15. However, Lola's final design was changed to be less sexualized than it was in the first film. Tony Bancroft has also said on Twitter that the film is both traditional and CG animation.

Merchandise
A hat with the film's logo is available on the WB shop website. On September 1, 2020, it was announced that Australian toy company Moose Toys made a deal with Warner Bros. to make merchandise for the film along with the 2021 live-action/animated Tom and Jerry hybrid film.

Music
On January 7, 2020, Hans Zimmer was announced to be set as the composer for the film. On April 15, 2020, Kris Bowers was announced to be joining Zimmer as composers for the film, but later revealed that Bowers has sole credit.

Release
Space Jam: A New Legacy is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in theaters in the United States on July 16, 2021 in RealD 3D and IMAX. It will also simultaneously be released on HBO Max for a month.