After nearly two decades away from the big screen, the Looney Tunes are set to make their feature-film return next year in Space Jam: A New Legacy. While the iconic cartoon characters will once again be hitting the court, they won’t be doing so with Michael Jordan, as they’ll now be joined by LeBron James. The NBA Champion and future hall-of-famer has remained relatively coy when it comes to story details, but he’s now shared a few plot details that show that the film is taking a somewhat different route from its predecessor.
The original Space Jam was a fictionalized account of Michael Jordan’s first retirement and eventual return to the NBA. But according to LeBron James, A New Legacy is fueled by the relationship between him and his son, Bronny (who will be portrayed by an actor in the film). As James explains, the story will see him “demand” that his son follow in his famous footsteps and play basketball and, of course, the Looney Tunes find their way into the mix as well:
It’s more of a family movie. It's a parenting movie between me and my son and me trying to demand my son to do something because I was taught that way growing up, demand my son to play basketball. 'This is all you're gonna do, this is how you do it.' And me as a parent not listening to my son and not believing in what my son is actually great at. It's a tackling between me being a parent and supporting my son, and my son basically turning off at some point and me trying to regain that trust throughout the movie. Along with the great Bugs Bunny, and Lola, and Taz, and Tweety, all of them.
This will be a bit of a change for the franchise, though basketball is clearly still at the center of the tale. And what is Space Jam without a high-stakes basketball game? During his recent appearance on Road Trippin’, LeBron James confirmed that there will be another face-off on the court and that the opponents won’t be your typical ballers:
There will be a basketball game, I’ll say that. And there will be some people that are a little bit out of this world, that we’re competing against.
James did, however, state that these otherworldly opponents won’t be the Monstars of the original 1996 movie. He didn’t go into any more specifics, but we, at least, know that their leader will be a character played by Don Cheadle.
There are still a number of questions when it comes to Space Jam: A New Legacy, but LeBron James’ recent comments should be enough to get fans speculating. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we get our first look at a trailer.
Space Jam: A New Legacy will hit theaters and HBO Max on July 16, 2021.
