‘Space Jam 2’ Gets An Official Title – ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’
A sequel to the 1996 basketball movieSpace Jamhas been in the works for years, and superstarLeBron Jameshas been chosen to step into the lead (human) role and replace original star Michael Jordan. But the sequel won’t just be referred to as the genericSpace Jam 2: instead, it’ll be calledSpace Jam: A New Legacy, which is one of the most uninspired movie titles in recent memory.
Space Jam: A New Legacy
The Space Jam sequel has a new title:#SpaceJamA New Legacy, ushered in by LeBron James and Bugs Bunny in 2021.pic.twitter.com/JvQttk10cU
— Fandango (@Fandango)August 10, 2025
Seriously: it’s been almost 25 years since the first movie, and “A New Legacy” was the best they could come up with? It’s sobland. It’s so bland, in fact, that it doesn’t even deserve the italics in that previous sentence. This is a movie with Looney Tunes in it, for God’s sake! Why not embrace the wackiness inherent in their involvement? This feels like a committee slapped together a subtitle that could apply to just about any franchise sequel of the past two decades of Hollywood blockbusters. This is an airball, as far as I’m concerned.
The originalSpace Jamis fiercely beloved by an entire generation – I really liked it as a kid – but when viewed without nostalgia goggles on, that movie is truly godawful. (I highly recommend listening to theHow Did This Get Made? episodeabout it.) At least green screen technology has improved considerably since then, so LeBron James shouldn’t look as out of his element as Jordan did carrying on a conversation with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. And James, who had a strong supporting role inTrainwreck, has solid comedic timing and can clearly thrive when he’s given the right material. But if this new title is indicative of the level of creativity that flows through the script, we’re in trouble.
Terence Nance was originally set to direct, but last summer he wasreplacedbyMalcolm D. Lee(Girls Trip,The Best Man,Night School), and we’re expecting more of a conventional studio film since this movie is now in Lee’s hands.Space Jam: A New Legacy(sorry, I fell asleep typing that title) is currently scheduled to hit theaters onJuly 16, 2021, but since the pandemic has caused a domino effect of movie release dates, it’s unclear if it will end up holding that spot or shifting to a later spot on the calendar.
