Episode 96 - Space Jam: A New Legacy

Alright people, for tonight's episode, we're doing something completely different. And by we, I mean I. Chris is on a well deserved vacation, which left me by myself to review Space Jam: A New Legacy. And oh man, did we have a lot to talk about here. Space Jam: A New Legacy is a 2021 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Malcolm D. Lee, serving as a standalone sequel to 1996's Space Jam. It is the first theatrically-released film to feature the Looney Tunes characters since Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and is also a combination of live-action, traditional hand-drawn animation, and 3D CGI effects. The film stars basketball player LeBron James as a fictionalized version of himself, along with Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Cedric Joe in live-action roles, while Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, and Zendaya headline the Looney Tunes voice cast. Set in a shared Warner Bros. virtual space multiverse, the film follows James teaming up with the Looney Tunes to win a basketball match against digitized champions to rescue his son from a rogue artificial intelligence (AI). Talks for a Space Jam successor began after the release of the first film, which Joe Pytka would have returned to direct. Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone signed on as the animation supervisors, but eventually the deal 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. After several years of languishing, a LeBron James-led sequel was officially announced in 2014 with filming under Terence Nance took place from June to September 2019 around Los Angeles. After a few weeks into filming, Nance left the project and Lee was hired to replace him in July 2019. Dom talks about the troubled path this film had on its way to the big screen, its similarities to the first one and ultimately how the same thing ultimately makes this more of a commercial than an actual film. It's all covered here on the #talkintvpodcast