After the release of 1996’s Space Jam starring legendary basketball star Michael Jordan and the recent release of Space Jam 2 starring modern-day basketball star LeBron James, a potential Space Jam 3 should go a whole new direction with Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam, an idea left in development in the early 2000s. The Space Jam franchise could certainly benefit from switching to another sport such as skateboarding, and the Looney Tunes’ new existence in Warner Bros.’ Server-Verse could be easily integrated into a skateboarding adventure. Not only that, but the longstanding popularity of Hawk himself (along with his massively popular video game franchise) would certainly be big draws for a third film.
In the first Space Jam, Michael Jordan is enlisted by the Looney Tunes to play basketball against aliens who will enslave them should the Tunes lose. Thanks to Jordan’s help, the Looney Tunes win the game and Jordan returns to playing basketball in 1995 after his retirement in 1993. Despite this first film’s success and cultural impact, LeBron James’ Space Jam: A New Legacy didn’t come until 25 years later, seeing James recruiting the Tunes to play a game of basketball in order to save his son. However, according to professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, he almost starred in a sequel that would have been released in the early 2000s called Skate Jam.
In 2019, Tony Hawk revealed on Twitter that he had been approached by Warner Bros. in 2003 to star in a film that might have been titled Skate Jam, providing him with his own skating adventure with the iconic Tunes. However, the film was soon shelved and abandoned due to the disappointing reception to 2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action starring Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman. That being said, should Warner Bros. decide to move forward with a third Space Jam, they should strongly consider bringing in Hawk, who’s certainly maintained his popularity over the years. Furthermore, A New Legacy has LeBron and the Tunes playing basketball in his son’s videogame within the digital Server-Verse, so there’s already a narrative means to integrate Hawk’s popular videogame franchise (beyond his own natural skills as a skateboarder).
After two installments featuring basketball, it seems like it would be a smart idea to feature a new sport for a potential third film, and this idea that was already in development seems primed for the current era (if not more so than in 2003). Tony Hawk is just as beloved by fans as he was back in the 2000s, and he’s certainly as iconic to the world of skateboarding as Jordan and James are to basketball. That includes his games such as Pro Skater, which had a major impact on actual skateboarding in America.
Who knows? Perhaps Hawk could have a similar narrative arc like Jordan’s where he finds himself being pulled out of retirement by the Looney Tunes? It certainly sounds like it has some strong potential. In any case, whether it’s Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam or director Malcolm D. Lee’s hopes for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for a wrestling adventure, Space Jam 3 should move on from basketball regardless, and shouldn’t be limited to the one sport with any future installments.
