'Space Jam 2' Starring LeBron James to Premiere on July 16, 2021

Space Jam 2 will hit theaters July 16, 2021, according to Pamela McClintock and Aaron Couch of the Hollywood Reporter.

LeBron James will fill the shoes left by Michael Jordan, who starred in the original in 1996. In the first film, Jordan teamed with famous Looney Tunes characters to defeat a team of monsters that had stolen the talent of NBA players.

The sequel had been rumored for years. The Hollywood Reporter's Rebecca Ford reported in July 2015 that James and his production company SpringHill Entertainment had signed with Warner Bros., which owns the rights to Looney Tunes. A team of writers began working on the Space Jam 2 script in May 2016.

Last September, SpringHill Entertainment confirmed Space Jam 2 was formally in the works.

During the NBA All-Star break last week, James said filming will kick off this summer, per Sports Illustrated's The Crossover:

James played an exaggerated version of himself in Trainwreck in 2015 and lent his voice to the 2018 animated film Smallfoot.

Space Jam 2 will represent his first starring role in a major motion picture.