If you grew up in the 1990s, chances are good that space jam was one of the films you watched religiously. I was one of those people and I can tell you that a lot of the attraction was in the concept. Take one of the greatest athletes in the world - in this case, Michael Jordan - Pair it with the wild and eccentric Looney Tunes and let chaos reign. And it seemed like a winning formula. Not only was the film a huge box office success, its soundtrack won a couple of Grammys, and its official website continues to thrive to this day. Of course, creating a sequel is not difficult.
And yet that is exactly what happened. Over the years, Warner Brothers has tried to continue space jam with a number of sequels, and the first attempt was made shortly after the success of the original film. Once again, Jordan would join forces with Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes to win a basketball game, but a new villain has emerged in the mix. Instead of aliens, Monstars, Jordan, and Tunes would face a strange new alien named Berserk-O.
Michael Jordan pulls out of ‘Space Jam’ sequel
Both Joe Pitka and Tony Cervonewho led the game and animation segments of the first space jam, were attached to the sequel. Cervone also brought in his fellow animator and collaborator. Spike Brandt on board while Mel Brooks Approached the voice of Berserk-O. But everything went down the drain when one of the producers failed to enlist the participation of Jordan. “I felt like the whole point of it was – like with a lot of sequels – just capitalizing on the success of the original,” said artist Bob Camp, who designed Berserk-O, while discussing the sequel’s ultimate fate. “It’s not like it was a great idea that people wanted to make a movie out of. It was just, “Hey, Michael Jordan is a cash cow!” Let’s milk him with all our might!”
No one knew what the sequel to “Space Jam” would be about
In addition to the absence of Jordan, there were other problems. First, no one knew exactly what space jam a sequel would be about. “They didn’t really talk to me about it,” Camp said when discussing the development of Berserk-O. “They just said draw it. Camp also had a short and rather nasty conversation with Torture, who was well known for his temper tantrums. The irony is that, although he did not participate in space jam In the sequel, Jordan went on to appear in a series of commercials in which he starred with Looney Tunes.
The fearless Warner Bros. returned to the drawing board. Since Jordan wasn’t on the list, the studio decided to look to other big players, with one of them at the top of the list. Torture recalls that Warner Bros. space jam sequel that would Tiger Woods starring. But he declined as he hated the idea and felt that Woods would never match Jordan’s charisma. “Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes have been rejuvenated by Michael. There will never be another Michael Jordan. There were only two athletes with such charisma: Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali, ”he said during an interview dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the film. Anniversary. Robot Chicken — a show that airs on the WB-owned Cartoon Network channel under the Adult Swim brand — will present its raunchy take on this scenario.
Looney Tunes will return to the big screen in 2003. Looney Tunes: Back in businesswhich originally started as a project called spy jam - and with Jackie Chan attached, no less! Production on spy jam and racing jam - which would have a NASCAR badge on it Jeff Gordon - were stopped when Back in action started filming, although the WB would have come up Tony Hawk for a project with an appropriate name Skate Jam. Unfortunately, Back in action failed at the box office and Skate Jam was postponed.
Space Jam finally gets a sequel
Eventually, space jam finally getting a sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy. Once again, the basketball superstar will join forces with the Tunes; this time it was LeBron Jameswho played to save his son from a malicious computer program called Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). And, like its predecessor, New legacy was met with scathing critical rebuke - this time focusing on the fact that people felt it was, in fact, a giant advertisement for a Warner Bros. movie catalog. After all this time it looks like the first space jam will serve as a case for catching lightning in a bottle.
Space Jam: A New Legacy available to stream on HBO Max. Looney Tunes: Back in business available for streaming on Tubi.
Source: Collider
