We were deprived of the Space Jam sequel that we deserved.
On a recent episode of Hot Ones, skateboarder Tony Hawk revealed that Warner Bros. reach out to him in the early 2000s about a skateboarding-themed follow-up to Space Jam titled, yup, Skate Jam. “I think that that’s the one that got away,” he told host Sean Evans.
According to Louder Sound, Hawk was presented with the idea “that it would be Skate Jam, much along the lines of Space Jam, with all the Looney Tunes characters. And then I was going to be the main real person.” Hawk met with producers at a resturant in Los Angeles International Airport, and he was told, “This is happening. Here are the script ideas, here’s the poster.” Hawk recalls thinking, “When is this going to happen?” The answer: never.
Hawk explained
“[They said], ‘When you get back, we’re going to finalize all the details,’ like, that’s set, it’s happening.’ Awesome! I get on the plane, go to Australia. In the meanwhile, they released Back in Action, which was a Looney Tunes film with Brendan Frasier, and apparently it didn’t do the numbers they had hoped. That was supposed to be their way to reintroduce Looney Tunes characters. By the time I got back from Australia, they weren’t even calling anymore. It was gone. It was just gone. It was more like, ‘What happened?! Let’s all meet up again! This is gonna be fun, right?!’ Yeah. Bummer.”
Don’t be mad at Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It’s not as good as a Joe Dante movie with Fraser, Steve Martin, and Joan Cusack could be, but it’s a million times better than Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Maybe Hawk’s new daughter-in-law can help make Skate Jam. You know it would have a sick soundtrack — as long as “Powerhouse” makes the cut.
You can watch Hawk’s Hot Ones episode above.
(Via Louder Sound)
