According to Deadline, the brilliant Don Cheadle has joined the cast of Space Jam 2.
Cheadle is best known for his roles in the likes of Boogie Nights, Devil In A Blue Dress, Rosewood and Steven Soderbergh films Out Of Sight, Traffic and Ocean’s Eleven. In sci-fi circles, he is known for playing James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (AKA War Machine) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor joins a cast currently made up of basketball star LeBron James, who will presumably play himself, and Star Trek: Discovery‘s Sonequa Martin-Green, who will play James’ wife. Cheadle’s role in the film is being kept secret for the time being.
Space Jam 2 will see James take over from original Space Jam star Michael Jordan. In the first film, Jordan was reluctantly pulled back into the world of basketball following his retirement from the sport when Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes needed his help to defeat an alien B-ball team called the MonStars in order to win back their freedom from enslavement.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is on board to produce the sequel, and Terence Nance (Random Acts Of Flyness) is acting as director. Nance replaced Justin Lin (Star Trek Beyond, Fast & Furious), who was originally attached to direct.
The film went into production this summer to coincide with James’ NBA off-season.
Space Jam 2 is in cinemas from 16 July 2021. Get all the latest sci-fi news with every issue of SciFiNow.