Every so often, a movie comes along with a premise so outrageous that it clearly shouldn’t work – but it does. The “perfect storm” of advance buzz, the popularity of the cast, appeal to both younger and older crowds, and probably lack of competition in the theaters means that a film could absolutely dominate a market when many people might believe that it had no business doing such. A movie, for example, that’s half-animated and half-live action; a movie that mixes modern sports stars with classic cartoon characters; a movie with no real plot but enough jokes to carry it through; a movie, yes, like 1996’s ‘Space Jam.’
For the record, I’m not hating on the film; I still find Quad City DJs’ song ‘Space Jam,’ the unofficial anthem of the film, popping up on my iPod from time to time. But as we all know, we live in a world of cash-grab remakes and reboots, and sadly, Hollywood’s eyes have turned their attention to the film. A sequel to the Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan-led tale of NBA stars teaming up with the Looney Tunes to defeat a weird alien quintet that’s oddly good at basketball is officially happening, with current NBA player LeBron James starring and ‘Star Trek Beyond‘ director Justin Lin taking the reins behind the camera.
Many folks think it’s a bad idea, and one person in particular has officially gone on record: Joe Pytka, director of the original ‘Space Jam,’ had the following to say about the sequel:
“Don’t do it. It’s doomed. Michael Jordan was the biggest star on the planet [at the time of the original movie]. When we did Space Jam, there was a perfect storm of players and ex-players available — Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing… they all had a persona that complemented the film. There are none around like that now.”
The original film had a budget of $80 million and went on to make more than $230 million at the box office – success that will certainly be hard to duplicate. Part of the reason ‘Space Jam’ worked so well was likely because it was unique, and that’s a trait that is inherently lost when a sequel comes into play. Plus, the original also starred Bill Murray, and ‘Space Jam 2’ will likely be hard-pressed to get the comedic mastermind back on screen with them.
No release date has yet been set for ‘Space Jam 2.’
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Tony Schaab’s last ever message to humanity was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double backward somersault through a hoop while whistling the star-spangled banner, but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish. A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.
