space_jam_02

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.