Time ‘not right yet’ for ‘Space Jam 2,’ says director Justin Lin

Michael Jordan with “Tweety Bird” in the original Space Jam film.  Image from Facebook/Space Jam

Warner Brothers has given the green light to the long-awaited “Space Jam” sequel, but director Justin Lin confirmed it won’t be in theaters anytime soon.

Speaking to Fred Topel of Slash Film, the 45-year-old Lin bared how scheduling conflicts of athletes involved is the biggest concern regrading production.

“To me, the challenge is we have actors who are also professional athletes, so schedule is something that is tough,” he explained.

“I’ve been really wanting to push that genre, but to do that you need the right amount of time. So there’s a logistical challenge but also creatively, to do a sequel 20 years later with a new cast and also to be able to, in a relevant way, bring the Looney Tunes back,” he added, citing the original film, which aired in 1996.

“That’s very important to me to do it right. I feel I’ve done nine different iterations already and we’re going to keep going, but we’re getting closer every day.”

Lin also shared the challenges of finding time to film the sequel’s lead star, LeBron James.

“It’s a different challenge because he’s a professional basketball player,” he said. “He’s not retired. When the first one happened, it was during a strike and Michael Jordan was retired. From what I’ve learned in film, you have to be passionate and when you’re ready, you’ll make it happen.”

He added: ”I feel like it’s been very precious. Everybody at the studio’s been calling, ‘Let’s go, let’s go’ and I’m like, (it’s) not right yet.”  Khristian Ibarrola  /ra

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