Where to watch Space Jam (1996)
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A group of cartoon characters face enslavement after strange aliens challenge them to a basketball game. With their freedom at stake, they recruit a retired basketball superstar who is struggling with a new sport to help them prepare for the decisive match.
Cast: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Manner Washington, Eric Gordon, Penny Bae Bridges, Brandon Hammond, Larry Bird, Bill Murray, Thom Barry, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing
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Trivia & production notes
- The idea for Space Jam originated from a conversation between producer Ivan Reitman and a Nike executive, inspired by successful Super Bowl commercials pairing Michael Jordan with Bugs Bunny.
- Director Joe Pytka spent six months and $1 million creating the 'Hare Jordan' Nike commercial, which Warner Bros. initially resisted because they were reluctant to modernize Bugs Bunny's character.
- Michael Jordan's manager David Falk rejected multiple film offers before Space Jam because he believed Jordan could only authentically play himself on screen.
- Joe Pytka was only informed about directing Space Jam months before principal photography began, and he rewrote the script including a scene of Jordan hitting a home run that was filmed but never used.
- Warner Bros. prevented Spike Lee from helping with the Space Jam screenplay due to dissatisfaction with how he funded Malcolm X.
- Bill Murray initially only agreed to film the golf course scene but wanted to join the climactic basketball game after Pytka showed him the live-action and animation integration process.
- Billy West discovered the Space Jam opportunity through producer Ivan Reitman appearing on The Howard Stern Show, and later auditioned to voice Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd after impressing Reitman with his voice talent.
- Nathan Lane was rejected for the role of Stan because director Joe Pytka felt he appeared too gay for the part.
- Space Jam was one of the earliest film productions shot using a virtual studio, with Michael Jordan performing in a 360-degree green screen room surrounded by motion trackers and green-suited NBA players and improv actors as placement guides.
- Director Joe Pytka was replaced two months into filming and replaced by another director, after a technical dispute with effects supervisor Dave Spafford over chroma-keying compatibility with live-action elements.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article Space Jam, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.
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