- Title: LeBron James "nervous" about being subject of 'Space Jam' sequel
- Date: 13th July 2021
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 12, 2021) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** JAMES WITH ACTORS DON CHEADLE, CEYAIR WRIGHT, DIRECTOR MALCOLM D. LEE, SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN, AND LEGEND (SOUNDBITE) (English) BASKETBALL PLAYER, LEBRON JAMES, SAYING: "I mean, listen, my mother's a single parent, I come from an only child single parent household so I understand how powerful Black women are, I understand everything she sacrificed for me to be who I am today, so it's always important for me, anytime I'm doing anything that the world gets the opportunity to see, that I highlight that and you're going to see this movie and it's a point that's highlighted in this film." JAMES WITH BASKETBALL PLAYER CHRIS BOSH ZENDAYA WITH MASK ON DIRECTOR MALCOLM D. LEE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, MALCOLM D. LEE, SAYING: "Well I love LeBron. He's a great actor, he's a great humanitarian. I love working with him. Fortunately I got a chance to meet him prior to working on this movie and you know, he's just a force of nature when it comes to his craft of basketball and he took acting very seriously. He's funny, he's charismatic, he can do drama, he can actually do emotions as well." BASKETBALL PLAYER ANTHONY DAVIS WITH DAUGHTER BASKETBALL PLAYER KLAY THOMPSON CHEADLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, DON CHEADLE, SAYING: "He's great. LeBron is great, LeBron is great. Actually, we were texting each other on the way up here so it's cool to have met someone in a film, because it doesn't always happen that you keep up with people and you know, have a relationship that goes beyond the set but we have and that's kind of cool." MUSICIAN G-EAZY SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS UNIDENTIFIED MAN ACTOR SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN, SAYING: "I grew up on that film and I think that film was very important and necessary for that time and so I'm hoping that this film does the same thing. I hope that it's necessary for this time, I hope people deem it necessary and I hope it brings people together because I think it has everything it needs to be a new classic, I really do." VOICE ACTORS ERIC BAUZA, CANDI MILO AND BOB BERGEN VOICE ACTOR JEFF BERGMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) 'BUGS BUNNY' VOICE ACTOR, JEFF BERGMAN, SAYING: "Well I guess I would say that I dream about carrots a lot, carrots and holes and that kind of thing. I mean, it's just something that's been with me for so long. I was fortunate enough to meet Mel Blanc 40 years ago when I was in college and we spent some time alone and it was about an hour almost and I take that with me. He was the Jedi of voice artists." ZENDAYA ACTOR CEYAIR WRIGHT WITH BOSH ACTOR CEDRIC JOE MUSICIAN BIG FREEDIA ACTOR CONNIE BRITTON ZENDAYA SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS JAMES (SOUNDBITE) (English) BASKETBALL PLAYER, LEBRON JAMES, SAYING: "I hope I continue to make Michael proud. He's someone I looked up to as a kid and hopefully this is another step in that direction but I'm happy to be a part of the Looney Tunes. They're the greatest group I've ever been around, the funniest group and the looniest group and we're going to bring the film to a lot of people's homes and a lot of theaters and make a lot of people smile and a lot of people happy."
- Embargoed: 27th July 2021 05:20
- Keywords: Don Cheadle John Legend LeBron James Space Jam: A New Legacy Zendaya basketball premiere
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA005ELOBHA7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: It's been 25 years since basketball player Michael Jordan stepped off the court an into his own movie in 'Space Jam'.
Now, the baton - or basketball - has been passed on to LeBron James, who like Jordan, enters the world of the Loony Tunes, where cartoon icons Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck reside.
'Space Jam: A New Legacy' launched at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, where James spoke to reporters about filling Jordan's sneakers.
He said "Listen, I was extremely nervous to even redo this film - not saying it's a remake, it's a totally different ride with 'A New Legacy' but you know, just knowing how great the first one was. But I put my heart into it, I put my looniness into it obviously with the Toons and committed to it. I'm excited for what people are actually going to see."
The purple carpet was filled with celebrities, from Zendaya, who voices Lola Bunny, and Don Cheadle, who plays villain AI G. Rhythm, to John Legend and G-Eazy, who have tracks on the film's score. There were also basketball stars Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis.
The sequel is more family orientated than the original. The plot sees James try to rescue his son Dom (Cedric Joe) by winning a basketball game with Bugs Bunny (voiced by Jeff Bergman).
When asked what mothers will get from the film, James replied "My mother's a single parent, I come from an only child single parent household so I understand how powerful Black women are, I understand everything she sacrificed for me to be who I am today, so it's always important for me, anytime I'm doing anything that the world gets the opportunity to see, that I highlight that and you're going to see this movie and it's a point that's highlighted in this film."
The film is directed by Malcom D. Lee and co-stars Sonequa Martin-Green as James' wife.
When asked how the film differed from the original Martin-Green said "I grew up on that film and I think that film was very important and necessary for that time and so I'm hoping that this film does the same thing. I hope that it's necessary for this time, I hope people deem it necessary and I hope it brings people together because I think it has everything it needs to be a new classic."
James added "I hope I continue to make Michael proud. He's someone I looked up to as a kid and hopefully this is another step in that direction but I'm happy to be a part of the Looney Tunes. They're the greatest group I've ever been around, the funniest group and the looniest group and we're going to bring the film to a lot of people's homes and a lot of theaters and make a lot of people smile and a lot of people happy."
'Space Jam: A New Legacy' goes on release in cinemas and streams on HBO Max from July 16.
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