Space Jam: A New Legacy felt a little like this Lakers’ season: A lot of hype, a lot of stars, but nowhere near the expected payoff.
LeBron James playing at an All-NBA level has been the brightest spot in the Lakers season, but he was not the bright spot in Space Jam according to critics. LeBron’s work in the movie earned him an award he’d rather not have: The 2022 Golden Raspberry Award — the Razzie — for worst actor in a film.
The film was very “popular” with Razzies voters and picked up a few other awards: Worst Screen Combo (LeBron with any Warner Bros. character) and Worst Prequel, Rip-off, or Sequel. However, it did not win Worst Movie, that went to the horribly conceived Diana The Musical.
Critics despised the new Space Jam, while audiences were warmer to it. A quick glance at the Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer finds last year’s Space Jam with just a 26% score from critics (percent of positive reviews) but has a 79% audience score.
Mock LeBron and his Space Jam film all you want, it made $162 million at the box office, which covers the reported $150 million budget for the film. Throw in streaming money and LeBron will take that cash to the bank and ignore the Razzie. And be okay with that.
