‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Scores Big Win at Box Office

Space Jam: A New Legacy (Credit: Warner Bros.)

Space Jam: A New Legacy took the championship title at the weekend box office after ringing up $31.6 million in ticket sales.

The Warner Bros. release featuring Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and a cast of Looney Tunes characters is directed by Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip and The Best Man). The film debuted simultaneously on HBO Max and in 3,965 theaters, averaging a strong $7,982 per theater, according to box office tracking company Comscore.

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The reboot of the 1996 original starring Michael Jordan stars James as a heightened version of himself who must save his son from an artificial intelligence villain known as Al G. Rhythm. Additional cast members include Don Cheadle, Sonequa Martin-Green, Xosha Roquemore, and Khris Davis.

While Space Jam: A New Legacy scored with audiences, it fouled out with critics, with a weak 31 percent rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. Among the complaints, reviewer John Nugent of Empire magazine described the movie as “a mess of celebrity and corporate cameos that fails to capture the weird spirit of the ’90s original.”

Rendy Jones of Rendy Reviews said the live-action/animated movie didn’t have “a lick of creativity.” While Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called the reboot “tedious.”

Despite the scathing reviews, the sequel still earned the biggest opening for a family film since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It also pushed last week’s leader, Disney-Marvel’s Black Widow, to second place with $26.2 million in ticket sales.

Elsewhere at the box office, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions opened in third with $8.8 million. F9 was fourth with $7.6 million, and The Boss Baby 2: Family Business rounded out the top five with $4.7 million.

Check out the box office chart of the top ten films below.

Box Office Chart for Week of July 18, 2021. (Credit: Comscore)