NBA and basketball legend Michael
Jordan, in his prime or not, is no natural actor by any stretch of the
imagination. But that, and the resultant middling critical reviews, did not
stop the 1996 film “Space Jam” by Warner Bros. from grossing enough from the
worldwide box office to become the all-time highest earning basketball-themed
movie. While the idea was popular enough to fuel sequel discussions, they only
became serious by 2014, only now with LeBron James taking Jordan’s star spot.
Following an announcement of other NBA players joining the cast (as with the
original), an actual actor was added.
As Comic Book Resources tells it, Don Cheadle has just been tapped to
join the team roster that will be the cast of “Space Jam 2,” the distant and
probably thematic sequel to the nineties original that starred the tandem of the
Chicago Bulls’s Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes franchise face Bugs Bunny (then
voiced by Billy West). This Warner Bros. Animation and SpringHill Entertainment
production might be the next big film that Cheadle would feature in following
his multi-installment involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero
franchise of Warner rival Disney subsidiary, Marvel Studios.
One notable point of discussion
on what Cheadle’s unrevealed role would be, is if his character will feature in
the real-life “3D-land” portions of “Space Jam 2,” or he will instead voice an
animated character in the cartoon segments. There are actually arguments for
both possibilities. While Cheadle may have portrayed US Air Force officer James
Rhodes/War Machine of the Avengers for the MCU, he had also gotten experience
voicing in animation when he took on the artificially-modulate voice of Donald
Duck (normally squawked by Tony Anselmo) in the season 1 finale of the “Ducktales”
remake on the Disney Channel.
SpringHill Entertainment has yet
to reveal details on the plot of “Space Jam 2,” but their casting choices, in
terms of actors and athletes, has gotten some names earlier in. Aside from Don
Cheadle and LeBron James, Sonequa Martin-Green (“Star Trek: Discovery” on CBS
All Access) will play LeBron’s wife Savannah James. Other basketball players
include Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson from the NBA, alongside
WNBA stars Diana Taurasi and the sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike. On the
Looney Tunes animated side, Eric Bauza voices Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck at the
least; and while no vocal talent has been revealed for her, original “Space Jam”
toon debutante Lola Bunny will also return.
With “Black Panther” director
Ryan Coogler producing, and Terrence Nash as director, “Space Jam 2” is
estimated to start production in the summer of 2019, looking forward to a
premiere on July 16 of 2021.
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