Cancelled ‘Space Jam’ Skateboard Sequel Almost Starred Tony Hawk and the Looney Tunes
Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk revealed Saturday he was once approached to star alongside the [...]
Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk revealed Saturday he was once approached to star alongside the Looney Tunes in never-made Space Jam sequel "Skate Jam."
in 2003, I was requested to meet with Warner Brothers about doing a film tentatively titled “Skate Jam.” They were bringing back Looney Tunes with “Back In Action” & then wanted to start on my project immediately. A week later Back In Action bombed & Skate Jam was shelved forever pic.twitter.com/9giKzBnlWH
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) January 5, 2019
"[I]n 2003, I was requested to meet with Warner Brothers about doing a film tentatively titled 'Skate Jam,'" Hawk tweeted.
"They were bringing back Looney Tunes with 'Back In Action' & then wanted to start on my project immediately. A week later Back In Action bombed & Skate Jam was shelved forever."
Sequel to 1996's Space Jam — the half-live-action, half-animated basketball-centric surprise blockbuster that starred superstar athlete Michael Jordan in his big screen debut — 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action starred Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman as the human allies of the famous 'toons, who teamed up to prevent a maniacal executive (Steve Martin) from devolving everyone on the planet into monkeys.
Back In Action made just a third of Space Jam's box office — $68.5 million compared to $230 million — suffering in part from competition by hit Will Ferrell comedy Elf ($220m) and Disney's animated Brother Bear ($250m).
One week into its release, Back In Action faced more competition from Universal's live-action Mike Myers-starrer The Cat in the Hat, and ended its box office run after 80 days. Financial tracking site BombReport later noted Back In Action was studio Warner Bros' biggest flop for 2003.
More than 15 years later, the beloved cartoon characters have yet to headline a feature-length film on the big screen. Warner Bros. later revived the Looney Tunes in a series of 3D-animated pre-show shorts that screened before films like Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore in 2010.
Following their return to television in The Looney Tunes Show (2011—2014) and New Looney Tunes, Warners will premiere 1,000 minutes of all-new animation with Looney Tunes Cartoons this year.
In August, it was learned Warner Bros. was developing Coyote vs. Acme — centered around the perennially scheming Wile E. Coyote — with Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) serving as producer.
Also in the works is Space Jam 2, a reboot to star the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James. Terence Nance (Random Acts of Flyness) directs with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler on board as producer.