Space Jam: A New Legacy hit theaters and HBO Max on Friday. A sequel that I, for one, never saw coming, the story brought us back to the world of slamming and jamming 25 years after the 1996 classic. Director Malcolm D. Lee spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the film, more specifically, he spoke about the possibility of a sequel.
“I never say never. It’s all going to be about whether the fans respond to this positively. But I think the bar has been set so high in terms of the first one with this global iconic superstar in Michael Jordan, and now the same global iconic superstar in LeBron James, who transcends sports. Who is that next person to put into that universe? And then you’ve got to find a script and story that’s good enough to not repeat what’s been done but will capture the spirit of it and keep it going.”
Admittedly, A New Legacy already had some pretty big Nikes to fill in finding someone as sensational as Jordan and telling a story as wacky, and loveable, as the original. That era of kid’s movie where you accept what’s on the screen, no questions asked, feels like it’s been locked in a time capsule. Back then you just accepted that the Looney Tunes were hanging out in the center of the Earth until aliens crashed through the parking lot of a Piggly Wiggly to try and force them to work in their amusement park in outer space. You accepted that Michael Jordan could be dragged to the world, via a hole the size of a golf ball, and play basketball to save his new cartoon buds and return the “talents” of his NBA besties.
A New Legacy does the same thing that the original did for me: make me turn my brain off and just accept (and enjoy) what was on screen.
Much like our Princess Weekes, I ended up enjoying the movie a lot more than I thought I would. It’s ironic, really, because when the sequel was first announced my kneejerk reaction was to grumble about how studios couldn’t leave well enough alone, but now I’m genuinely curious what Lee would do with a third movie – perhaps one that got released sooner than 25 years.
We do have some idea, as Lee mentioned a certain charismatic wrestler turned actor when talking about the possibility of a sequel. “Dwayne Johnson would be an interesting choice,” Lee told EW. “It would be different. I’m not exactly sure what his skill set would be, maybe he goes back to wrestling. That might be interesting.”
First and foremost, I am obligated to take notice when The Rock is going to be in any production. This is a man who delights in the ridiculous antics he’s a part of. If you need a super-strong nuclear physicist to save the world from chemically enhanced animals, earthquakes, enchanted board games, or guide a torpedo toward enemy vehicles, on ice, with his bare hand, then this is your guy.
That being said, The Rock would take the franchise away from basketball which might be illegal?
At the same time, the idea of this becoming a series that puts the Looney Tunes in different sports might be fun – and wow, I can’t believe I just said that Space Jam could be an ongoing kid movie series. I also can’t believe that I’m contemplating how fourth-wall-breaking this could get since Dwayne Johnson is set to be in Black Adam – a WB property.
Does there need to be a third movie? No, of course not. It’s not like A New Legacy ended on a cliffhanger or went on to set up a multipart universe (which feels like a rarity these days), but the idea of getting another movie where a bunch of cartoon characters in a shared studio universe comes together to stop whatever adversary makes them play (insert sport) kinda puts a smile on my face the way the OG Space Jam did 25 years ago.
(Image: Warner Bros.)
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Published: Jul 19, 2021 09:06 am