After all the massive speculation, LeBron James‘s SpringHill Entertainment finally put a date on the calendar for Space Jam 2. A tweet telling fans to save the date: July 16, 2021. Space Jam, a hugely successful property whose original version (1996) starred that other number 23, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, puts a lot of pressure on King James and Warner Brothers to repeat the hit. But James has proven pretty good under pressure so far in his career. Does he have the big screen charisma that Jordan brought to the game against the aliens? Remains to be seen, but betting against James usually doesn’t go too well. Jordan also had the element of surprise to his advantage — no one had seen anything like Space Jam before Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bill Murray, Bugs Bunny and the enchanting Lola Bunny hit the screen.
But James is already showing in Hollywood what he has demonstrated consistently in the NBA — his willingness to share the ball. The headliners on the new Space Jam 2 aren’t just James and Bugs: the topline also includes Lola Bunny — her name the same size as that of LeBron James in the SpringHill tweet drop. It’s the new Hollywood, and James is obviously sensitive to the rampant gender inequality issues that female stars have faced in Hollywood. Here James demonstrates a willingness to do battle with one of Hollywood’s biggest problems. Jordan’s Space Jam, in 1996, featured only Michael and Bugs as the headliners — see photo above. Lola Bunny may be a cartoon, but her inclusion in the top billing is no joke.
James wrote: “Can’t even front. This is going to be UNREAL!! Wow man.”* Lola Bunny didn’t tweet anything, but she’s not so easily awed, as Space Jam viewers will remember. Lola is again quite ready for her closeup.
*The UNREAL tweet describes James passing Michael Jordan to move to 4th on the all-time NBA scoring list, which he accomplished on March 6, 2019. But Space Jam? Lola Bunny? Also unreal!
July 16, 2021 🎥🏀🥕 #SaveTheDate pic.twitter.com/qV1Tnxuksd
— SpringHill Ent. (@SpringHillEnt) February 22, 2019
Can’t even front. This is going to be UNREAL!! Wow man
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 7, 2019
