'Fast & Furious 6' Director Justin Lin Joins LeBron James' 'Space Jam' Sequel

The long-rumoured follow-up to cult-favourite 1996 live-action/animated adventure Space Jam, starring LeBron James, has moved another step closer to reality following reports that Fast & Furious 6 director Justin Lin has signed on to helm the film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lin will co-write the script for the upcoming sequel with largely unknown entities Andrew Dodge (whose sole IMDb credit is 2013's Bad Words, which starred Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn and Allison Janney) and Alfredo Bottelo, a writer on 2012 comedy The Xmas Special and a consultant on Lin's recent Star Trek Beyond project.

However, despite the writers' relatively limited oeuvres to date, Lin evidently feels strongly about them — especially so in the case of Dodge, with whom Lin is also working on "an untitled cop comedy", THR reports, as well as "a TV drama for HBO that Lin and Jeremy Renner are producing".

Speculation over a sequel to Space Jam has been rampant for years, despite the film's lukewarm critical response at the time of its release (and a scathing assessment from long-time Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones). James, for his part, has been expressing interest in playing a part in bringing the sequel to the screen since at least 2012, with the Cleveland Cavaliers forward making his big-screen debut last year in Trainwreck alongside Amy Schumer and Bill Hader.

The probability of his involvement skyrocketed in July last year, when his production company, SpringHill Entertainment, signed a deal with Warner Bros. after the film company filed new trademarks for "Space Jam" the month before.