LeBron 'Extremely Nervous' about Living Up to Jordan in Space Jam Sequel

Cast members Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Ceyair Wright, Harper Alexander, Sonequa Martin-Green, Director Malcolm D. Lee and singer John Legend pose as they attend the premiere for the film Space Jam: A New Legacy in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Cast members Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Ceyair Wright, Harper Alexander, Sonequa Martin-Green, Director Malcolm D. Lee and singer John Legend pose as they attend the premiere for the film Space Jam: A New Legacy in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
TT

LeBron 'Extremely Nervous' about Living Up to Jordan in Space Jam Sequel

Cast members Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Ceyair Wright, Harper Alexander, Sonequa Martin-Green, Director Malcolm D. Lee and singer John Legend pose as they attend the premiere for the film Space Jam: A New Legacy in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Cast members Lebron James, Don Cheadle, Ceyair Wright, Harper Alexander, Sonequa Martin-Green, Director Malcolm D. Lee and singer John Legend pose as they attend the premiere for the film Space Jam: A New Legacy in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

It's been 25 years since basketball legend Michael Jordan walked off the court into his own movie in 'Space Jam'.

Now, the ball has been lobbed to LeBron James, who like Jordan, enters the world of the Loony Tunes alongside cartoon icons Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Reuters reported.

'Space Jam: A New Legacy' premiered on Monday at the L.A. Live entertainment complex in downtown Los Angeles, where James spoke to reporters about stepping into Jordan's sneakers.

"I was extremely nervous to even redo this film," he said.

"But I put my heart into it, I put my looniness into it obviously with the Tunes and committed to it. I'm excited for what people are actually going to see."

The purple carpet was filled with celebrities, from Zendaya, who voices Lola Bunny, and Don Cheadle, who plays villain Al G.

Rhythm, to John Legend and G-Eazy, who have tracks on the film's score.

Basketball stars Klay Thompson and Anthony Davis also attended the premiere.

More family-orientated than the original 'Space Jam', this sequel sees James try to rescue his son Dom (Cedric Joe) by winning a basketball game with Bugs Bunny, voiced by Jeff Bergman.

When asked how this differed from the first film, Sonequa Martin-Green, who co-stars as James' wife, said she had grown up with that movie.

"I think that film was very important and necessary for that time and so I'm hoping that this film does the same thing," she said. "I hope it brings people together because I think it has everything it needs to be a new classic."

James was also conscious of the legacy of this release, adding: "I hope I continue to make Michael proud. He's someone I looked up to as a kid and hopefully this is another step in that direction."

'Space Jam: A New Legacy' is released in cinemas and streams on HBO Max from Friday.



Louvre Heist to Be Turned into Film

 The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
TT

Louvre Heist to Be Turned into Film

 The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)
The Louvre Museum seen in Paris, France, November 17, 2025. (Reuters)

Last year's brazen robbery of the Louvre -- when thieves made off with jewellery worth some $100 million -- is set to become a movie, a publisher said on Tuesday.

French director Romain Gavras -- whose work includes 2025 Hollywood film "Sacrifice" starring Anya Taylor-Joy and music videos including most recently a hypnotic schoolboy choreography for GENER8ION -- will draw inspiration from the investigative book "Main basse sur le Louvre" (literally "A grab at the Louvre").

Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast, the Flammarion publishing house said.

The book, written by three journalists, from French dailies Le Parisien and Le Monde, and weekly glossy magazine Paris Match, is to hit bookstores on Wednesday.

According to trade magazine Le Film Francais, the movie project is in development, though neither the title nor the cast has been announced.

The Louvre heist sent shockwaves around the world and sparked a security crisis within the world-famous museum that ultimately led to the replacement of its director, Laurence des Cars.

After seven months of investigation, and despite the arrests of the main suspects, the jewels have still not been found.

The authors said their apparent disappearance "has become a dense mystery, a puzzle that has plunged investigators into deep confusion".

The heist illustrates how "the theft of artworks has become a business like any other for many criminals", they say. "The criminal underworld has found a new cash cow."


'Spider-Noir' Brings a Mature Superhero to the Small Screen

Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
TT

'Spider-Noir' Brings a Mature Superhero to the Small Screen

Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Nicolas Cage stars in the new series "Spider-Noir". Michael loccisano / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

While stars of the Spider-Man franchise have trended younger over the years -- from Tobey Maguire to Andrew Garfield to Tom Holland -- the new series "Spider-Noir" starring Nicolas Cage explores a more mature version of the web-slinging superhero.

Premiering on Amazon's streaming platform this week, the series follows Ben Reilly (Cage), a private investigator struggling to make ends meet in New York during the Great Depression, said AFP.

This marks the first time the superhero, whom Cage voiced in the first Spider-Verse film, has appeared on screen in live-action.

Karen Rodriguez, who plays Janet, Riley's loyal secretary, said that what sets "Spider-Noir" apart from other versions of the superhero is the era in which it is set.

"Normally, it's a coming-of-age story, and we're meeting Peter Parker in a youthful setting," she told AFP. "But what happens when you've done it and life has happened to you and you suffered loss?"

Reilly, a World War I veteran who can't even afford to pay his secretary, is burdened by personal tragedy.

"He's lost the love of his life. He's smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. There's a lot of suffering," Rodriguez added.

For the actress, whose character maintains a constant push and pull with Reilly, working with Cage "was like a dream come true."

Rodriguez said she learned a lot from the 62-year-old Oscar-winning actor, who has over a hundred films to his credit.

"It's the type of job that you dream about because you want jobs that are going to make you better," said Rodriguez, who describes her character as a strong-willed woman who doesn't mince words.

"Spider-Noir," produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, among others, can be seen in color or black and white, in a nod to the film noir genre of the 1940s.

"It's a wholly unique perspective," said Rodriguez, who sees the style as an "exciting" alternative for telling a superhero story.

The genre is related to "what kind of danger is looking around the corner," she said. "And even the visual elements of noir, I think are so evocative, the way that the camera is framed."

"You understand that the world you're never really safe, and we really see it in the black and white, because we're seeing people in shadow or in light, and the shadow is always there."

"Spider-Noir" also features performances by Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li and Brendan Gleeson, who plays a mobster villain.


Disney’s New ‘Star Wars’ Film Opens with an Estimated $165 Million Worldwide

Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
TT

Disney’s New ‘Star Wars’ Film Opens with an Estimated $165 Million Worldwide

Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Pedro Pascal attends a premiere for the film “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” at TCL Chinese theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, May 14, 2026. (Reuters)

New "Star Wars" film "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is expected to end the US Memorial Day weekend with roughly $165 million in worldwide ticket sales, distributor Walt Disney said ‌on Sunday.

About $102 ‌million of that ‌total ⁠will come from ⁠the United States and Canada, Disney said. The domestic total exceeds pre-weekend forecasts but is the lowest opening for any "Star Wars" ⁠movie released by Disney.

The ‌first "Star ‌Wars" movie in seven years ‌tells the story of a ‌helmeted bounty hunter and his sidekick, nicknamed Baby Yoda by fans. The duo debuted ‌on the small screen in the Disney+ streaming series "The ⁠Mandalorian" ⁠in 2019.

Disney's lowest-grossing "Star Wars" film, "Solo: A Star Wars Story," brought in $103 million over Memorial Day weekend in 2018 and was considered a flop. The "Grogu" movie, however, had a smaller budget than most other "Star Wars" movies, of about $165 million.