Getty Images Lebron James – Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trailblazers (Oct. 18, 2018)
The original Space Jam film starring Michael Jordan recently celebrated his 22nd anniversary on November 15. Now, with Space Jam 2 preparing to enter the live-action filming stage of the production process this summer, the film’s director, Terence Nance has come forward to reveal how impactful the movie can be upon the film’s release.
For those of you unaware of Terence Nance’s work in the film industry, he’s known for content centered around a mature audience. A lot of Nance’s work covers topics of white supremacy, police brutality, turbulent monogamous relationships, toxic masculinity, and other socio-political themes prevalent in today’s society. His contribution to films and shorts like Swimming in Your Skin Again, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, and They Charge for the Sun have all been critically-acclaimed by major production houses and film enthusiasts.
However, Nance is also known for experimenting with animation techniques. In the past, he’s fused a wide variety of visual methods to curate one-of-a-kind aesthetics for the silver screen and will be looking to do the same in the sequel to the classic film featuring Bugs Bunny and friends taking on the Monstars for the welfare of humanity.
Space Jam 2 Director, Terence Nance, Speaks Out
While speaking with Vice, this is what Terence Nance had to say about the highly-anticipated animated film,
“Pretty sure [it’s] going to disrupt everything… I’m excited about what […] that movie can be.
Space Jam is a very unique opportunity because LeBron James is the best basketball player on Earth and a once in a generation performer. Whoever the greatest basketball player of the next generation is going to be, they are probably not going to also be a great actor.
Growing up being an animator, someone who loves to draw, I’m just super enthused to work in the cannon, learning in a more deep way about it, bringing what I bring from a media innovation standpoint.”
For basketball enthusiasts, when Nance says ‘this film is going to disrupt everything,’ the majority of the NBA community is hoping it is strictly from a pop-culture point of view. But will that actually be the reality for the film and its stars?
How Will Space Jam 2 & Hollywood Affect Lebron James?
Prior to the beginning of the 2018-19 NBA season when Lebron James revealed that he will be signing a contract to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, many assumed it was because LBJ wanted to be in a major market in order to pursue his entertainment endeavors as his professional basketball career came to an end.
For the most part, this has been true. Lebron James’ HBO talk show The Shop has picked up in production since he’s relocated to the west coast and his production company SpringHill Entertainment is beginning to pick up steam. But with Lebron James focusing on Space Jam 2 this upcoming offseason and Terence Nance’s comments of the movie’s impact being a mainstream focal point, where will this leave Lebron James and the Lakers?
There’s a strong possibility that Lebron James could be distracted from helping the Los Angeles Lakers secure their position as an elite NBA Championship contender. Not to mention, Lebron James recently celebrated his 34th birthday at the end of December and suffering his first major injury in the form of a strained groin. Could these be a sign that Father Time is beginning to catch up to the three-time NBA Champion?
Even though Lebron James is playing at an elite level in the final stage of his NBA career, could the pursuit of his Hollywood dreams be the distraction that causes the 14x NBA All-Star to fall from grace?
Tonight, Lebron James will miss his eighth game since being injured on Christmas Day where he put up 17 points on 6-11 shooting against the Golden State Warriors. With James averaging an impressive 27.3 points per game on 51.8% shooting from the field while dishing out a total of 7.1 assists per game, his resilience appears to be intact. But, let’s hope the bright lights of Hollywood do not hinder Lebron James from staying focused and getting Los Angeles yet another Championship banner to hang up over the heads of fans in Los Angeles for decades to come.
Only time will tell how Hollywood will ultimately affect the gameplay of Lebron James, we’ll all just have to wait and see.
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