The 'Black Panther' director will produce the James-starring sequel, while Michael Jordan's return for the Bugs Bunny movie is still in discussions.

AceShowbiz - "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler has come aboard "Space Jam 2". The Saturn Award-winning director is teaming up with LeBron James to bring the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 live-action/animated sports comedy to the big screen.

Coogler will serve as producer along with James, whose production company SpringHill Entertainment is backing up the project. Terence Nance, who is known for his directing debut "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty" and as the creator of HBO's sketch show "Random Acts of Flyness", is set to direct. Justin Lin ("Fast and Furious" movies), who was previously attached as director, will also serve as executive producer.

Praising Coogler's work on the Marvel superhero movie, James tells The Hollywood Reporter, "I loved his vision (for 'Black Panther')." Noting that there were no black superheroes when he was a kid, he adds, "So for Ryan to be able to bring that to kids, it's amazing."

The Los Angeles Lakers player further gushes about the upcoming movie, "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."

James will be starring in the follow-up to the Michael Jordan-Bugs Bunny movie, while Jordan's return for the sequel is reportedly still in discussions. Production on the Warner Bros. film is expected to take place in 2019 during the NBA off-season.

The "Space Jam" sequel has been long rumored, with various named linked to the project. Andrew Dodge ("Bad Words") wrote the script, while Charlie Ebersol wrote a previous iteration of the project. Ebersol is still expected to be involved in producing capacity should the project get a green light.

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