With his offseason in full swing, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been hard at work in promoting his new movie ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy,’ which finally released last Friday.
The movie was obviously set to be compared to the original starring Michael Jordan which was released in 1996, but expectations overall were lower as many wondered whether it would live up to the original.
Additionally, movie theaters are only recently opening up which further led many to speculate as to how big James’ debut as the leading role of a movie would go. But as has been the case on the court, LeBron James would find himself at the top of the heap.
According to Erik Childress of Rotten Tomatoes, Space Jam: A New Legacy topped the charts in its opening weekend, even surpassing some major motion pictures:
First, let’s go to the charts. Space Jam: A New Legacy opened in first this weekend with $31.7 million. That is the fifth best opening of the year – just ahead of WB’s Godzilla vs. Kong’s $31.6 million, if the estimates hold (and GvK had a two-day head start). That is also the best family-oriented opening of 2021, surpassing even Cruella’s four-day Memorial Day opening of $26.5 million. LeBron James fans may even point out that it is better than the $27.5 million start that Michael Jordan’s Space Jam kicked off with back in 1996. Though with inflation that was about a $47.6 million opening and the movie went on to make more than $156 million. (At the time of its release, that was the fifth best opening of 1996, but the movie dropped to seventh in subsequent weeks when Star Trek: First Contact and the live-action 101 Dalmatians opened bigger.) GOAT debate aside, there was not a lot of chatter that Space Jam was going to dethrone Black Widow in its second weekend after a record-breaking pandemic opening. And yet here we are.
James even took to social media himself to celebrate this accomplishment:
Hi Haters! ???? https://t.co/ayPGnBZGQU
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 17, 2021
Space Jam topping the likes of Black Widow and Godzilla vs. Kong is well beyond what many would have expected for this movie but just goes to show the popularity of James and the anticipation surrounding it. James puts his all into everything he does and it has paid off once again with an outstanding opening that very few saw coming.
James reacts To ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ release
Well before news of Space Jam’s amazing opening weekend came through, LeBron was more than excited about the movie being released period. In a social media post, James was almost in awe that he had a movie releasing in which he was the leading man.
The Lakers superstar was full of energy early in the morning as he reflected on the work he put in and implored fans to go see the movie. Considering the box office numbers, it worked.
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