Earlier on Tuesday morning, Deadline broke the news that the Ryan Coogler-produced, LeBron James-starring Space Jam 2 would be getting a new director. Terence Nance, who created HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and was selected by Coogler for the project, apparently “amicably parted ways” after some minor conflict with the producers of the Looney Tunes sequel. Replacing him is Malcolm D. Lee, who directed the uproariously funny Girls Trip back in 2017 and the real shitty Night School last year. Obviously, we’re all disappointed by this news: Nance was an excellent and out-of-left field choice for the project and, though Lee will ultimately turn in a competent and solid sequel (we think), it would have been cool to see Nance’s take on this unnecessary sequel.
But, maybe it’s not that bad of a thing?
Well, think of it like this: the last time LeBron James changed horses mid-stream, the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA Championship. Are we saying that Malcolm D. Lee is Ty Lue, or that Terence Nance is David Blatt? No, we’re not. But things didn’t turn out so badly after all in that case, right? Just thinking about it gives us goosebumps: the 73-9 Golden State Warriors going down in a blaze of glory after blowing a 3-1 lead in one of the greatest series in the history of professional Basketball. Here, just so you can relive the moment along with us, here’s our favorite clip montage of that Game 7, one that we can honestly say that we’ve spent many a drunken evening rewatching and laughing at:
So, yeah. We don’t think Space Jam 2 will ever come close to matching that level of schadenfreude, but here’s to hoping! Anyways, Space Jam 2 will hit theaters whether you like it or not on July 16, 2021.