Space Jam 2 Is a Go with LeBron James and Ryan Coogler

Here’s your second chance, do your dance at the Space Jam. Space Jam 2 is officially picking up its basketball and getting ready to rumble, as the creative team behind the long-awaited sequel has been announced.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that LeBron James, who was previously announced as Michael Jordan’s replacement as the film’s lead, has hand-picked Ryan Coogler and Terence Nance to produce and direct the film, respectively, giving this sequel an undeniably innovative edge. Coogler, as you definitely know, just came off a wildly popular directing stint for Marvel’s Black Panther, while Nance is best known for creating HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness and directing the experimental dramedy The Oversimplification of Her Beauty. Translation: This isn’t going to be your average human vs. cartoon animated romp.

“I loved his vision,” James told THR of his selection of Coogler. “So for Ryan to be able to bring that to kids, it’s amazing. The Space Jam collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie. It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams. And I think Ryan did that for a lot of people.”

As THR notes, this Space Jam sequel has been in development purgatory for over a decade, with the right basketball star/auteur combination never quite sticking. (Don’t worry, Bugs Bunny was always going to be involved.) However, with this trio of talented gents now on board, a production schedule has been set for 2019, after James’s inaugural basketball season with the Los Angeles Lakers concludes. If his starring turn in Trainwreck was any indication, he’ll transition from court life to set life just fine.