Can LeBron James be a player in Hollywood like he is on the hardwood? He’s already begun.<\/b>
\n\u00ab\u00a0Space Jam 2?\u00a0\u00bb A whole new \u00ab\u00a0House Party\u00a0\u00bb franchise?
With the leadership of LeBron James, anything is possible.
As James comes from Cleveland to Los Angeles looking to take the Lakers to more championships with a blockbuster $154 million contract announced this week, he could also push those two 1990s properties closer to reality and go from part-time presence to major player in Hollywood.
James hasn’t yet spoken about his plans for Los Angeles. But if he wants to, he’s already shown he can act, and not just in that good-for-an-athlete way.
His one real film role, playing himself in the 2015 Amy Schumer film \u00ab\u00a0Trainwreck,\u00a0\u00bb directed by Judd Apatow, won big raves.
The Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr called him \u00ab\u00a0a comedic revelation.\u00a0\u00bb Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post said he showed \u00ab\u00a0expert, deadpan timing.\u00a0\u00bb
James’ co-stars agreed.
\u00ab\u00a0He was really good. Like everything with him it was very effortless,\u00a0\u00bb said Bill Hader, who played the movie’s male lead with James as his sidekick and previously acted with James when he hosted \u00ab\u00a0Saturday Night Live.\u00a0\u00bb \u00a0\u00bbHe’s always listening. I know actors that don’t listen, they’re just waiting to say their line. He listened.\u00a0\u00bb
Hader said there was frequent improvisation on \u00ab\u00a0Trainwreck,\u00a0\u00bb and LeBron easily kept up with the sketch comedy pros like Hader.
\u00ab\u00a0You’ll never believe this, but he was super confident,\u00a0\u00bb Hader told the AP with a laugh by phone from the Toronto set of the film \u00ab\u00a0It 2.\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0But not cocky,\u00a0\u00bb Hader added.
\u00ab\u00a0I remember Chris Rock was on set and rattled off a line suggestion really fast for LeBron, and LeBron said it back during the scene verbatim,\u00a0\u00bb Hader said. \u00ab\u00a0I remember thinking, \u00ab\u00a0I can’t do that.\u00a0\u00bb
He wouldn’t be the first Laker to try acting. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal had their share of famous, and infamous roles. And Kobe Bryant ended up with an unlikely Academy Award for an animated short based on a poem he wrote about basketball.
Whether or not he appears on screen, James has already begun a major media career that can only get a boost from LA.
Gone are the days when athletes had to be in a major market to make it in film and television, as James himself has shown through his years building his brand in Cleveland.
But there’s nothing like face-time for becoming a force in Hollywood.
James and his business partner Maverick Carter have a production company, SpringHill Entertainment, that has a deal with Warner Bros. and office space on the legendary movie company’s lot, where he could become a regular.
\u00ab\u00a0Certainly the proximity will make it easier for LeBron personally to be part of future projects,\u00a0\u00bb said David Schwab, an executive vice president at Octagon, a global sports and entertainment marketing and management firm. \u00ab\u00a0The advantage of a market like New York, Los Angeles and Golden State is the ability to have coffee, lunch or dinner daily\u00a0\u00bb with key decision makers. \u00ab\u00a0In a smaller market you don’t get those consistent opportunities,\u00a0\u00bb he said.
Schwab said James’ partners at Warner Bros. and elsewhere are most likely \u00ab\u00a0excited that he’s in Los Angeles as they could possibly use LeBron personally to close business deals with future partners of their own.\u00a0\u00bb
James, via SpringHill and his digital film company Uninterrupted has already brought some projects to big and small screens, with many more in the works. Here are some highlights:
\u2014 \u00ab\u00a0Space Jam 2.\u00a0\u00bb The idea of James reviving the 1996 movie starring another candidate for greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, has been in circulation for several years. The movie with Jordan battling animated aliens alongside Bugs Bunny and his Warner Bros. cartoon buddies brought mixed reviews and eyerolls at the time, but has become a cult classic. Justin Lin of the \u00ab\u00a0Fast & Furious\u00a0\u00bb films has been attached as director.
\u2014 \u00ab\u00a0House Party.\u00a0\u00bb Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori of \u00ab\u00a0Atlanta\u00a0\u00bb are writing a script that James and SpringHill hope will revive the franchise that starred Kid n’ Play and spawned three big-screen sequels from 1990 to 1994.
\u2014 \u00ab\u00a0Smallfoot.\u00a0\u00bb James will have another chance to show off his comic chops as the voice of a skeptical yeti in Warner Bros’ animated film.
\u2014 \u00ab\u00a0Now We’re Talking.\u00a0\u00bb A digital comedy series on Uninterrupted that features two rival professional football quarterbacks who become broadcasters and frequent pro athlete cameos is about to enter its second season.
\u2014 SpringHill is also producing several more television projects including the game shows \u00ab\u00a0The Wall\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0Do or Dare\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0Rise Up,\u00a0\u00bb a documentary about the civil rights movement for the History Channel.<\/p>\n

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