Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
LeBron James announced a partnership with Warner Bros. that will cover TV, film and original digital content.
James has carefully cultivated his personal brand and Warner Bros. will help extend its reach across the globe. It’s even possible that King James could find himself wearing a cape one day, as he’d be a natural fit for the studio’s DC Movie Universe. The studio has also been developing “Space Jam 2” with him in mind.
In the past, athletes such as Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and even O.J. Simpson have made the transition from the court/field to the big screen, but only Magic Johnson has successfully parlayed his basketball career into becoming a major media mogul.
Lebron James in Space Jam 2
The trademarks cover just about everything peripheral to a movie besides the actual movie, which isn’t a problem—Warner Brothers already owns that Space Jam trademark.
A Space Jam sequel has been rumored for a while, and a Deadline report from February 2014 went so far as to claim a producer and screenwriter had gotten attached. The report may have been premature—James immediately denied his involvement—but it’s clear that Warner wants to do this. 1990s nostalgia is in full swing, and James is as popular as any American athlete has been since Michael Jordan in his prime.
There is too much money to be made for this not to happen. So, well before anything is official, it’s time to start wildly speculating on which NBA stars ought to appear. Give me your starting five. (I will ban you if you pick Dwight Howard.)
The original Space Jam made $US90 million at the box office. It’s still the highest grossing basketball movie ever.