Ryan Coogler is the latest addition to the Looney Tunes team. The Black Panther director is producing the sequel for Space Jam with alongside LeBron James, who will also star in the movie, Terence Nance working as director, and Bugs Bunny reprising his legendary role as Bugs Bunny.
Wednesday afternoon James’ Springhill Entertainment announced the exciting news via Twitter in a teaser image featuring the locker room of the new and improved Tune Squad, including spots for “B. Bunny,” “L. James,” “T. Nance,” and “R. Coogler.”
Following the success of Black Panther, Coogler is one of the most sought-after talents in Hollywood and his name being attached to Space Jam 2 really is a big deal. The Marvel film broke ground as a superhero movie from black perspective with a black cast, earning $1.34 billion worldwide at the box office.
“The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie,” James said. “It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams. And I think Ryan did that for a lot of people.”
As most of you will remember, the original 1996 Space Jam focused on NBA legend Michael Jordan playing an epic basketball game against aliens to save the Looney Tunes from being enslaved at an interstellar amusement park called “Moron Mountain”.
While it remains to be seen what the plot of the new Space Jam will be, with a team full film, basketball, and cartoon legends, it’s safe to say this film will really be out of this world!
