Space Jam: A New Legacy – Box Office Numbers, Critics' Reviews & Fan Reaction

Space jam a new legacy
The Space Jam 2 staff looking at the film's reviews. | © Disney

Space Jam: A New Legacy's first weekend in theaters is behind us. How is the LeBron James film holding up? Is it making a splash at the box office? Is it well-liked by the audience? Is Space Jam: A New Legacy better than the original Space Jam movie? So many questions to answer.

LeBron James is a movie star now. But how is his take on the Space Jam concept holding up critically and comercially? Let's look at the numbers and see what they are going to tell us.

How Much Money Did Space Jam: A New Legacy Make on Opening Weekend?

The box office numbers for Space Jam: A New Legacy are very good. The film ended up at top spot domestically, overtaking Black Widow. Space Jam 2 made $31 million over the weekend to Marvel's $26 million.

LeBron is proving his international iconic status too. Outside of North America, A New Legacy accumulated $23 million, bringing its box office total to $54 million.

It is one of the best performing "pandemic" releases, trailing just films like the aforementioned Black Widow and F9: The Fast Saga. It would still need a couple more strong weeks if it wants to be deemed a commercial success. A budget of $150 million needs to be checked here.

Is Space Jam: A New Legacy Any Good?

According to every available metric, the answer is no. The two largest review agregator sites out there – Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, rate the film as being kind of trash. A New Legacy holds a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 36/100 on Metacritic.

We've seen worse for sure, but the obvious comparison with the original Space Jam doesn't favor the new movie. Michael Jordan's numbers are 44% and 59/100, respectively. Though not great by any stretch, they reflect a more average rating instead of an outright bad one.

Fans have their say on the matter too. On IMDB, Space Jam 2 holds a 4.3/10 rating - once again significantly worse than Space Jam (6.5) and signifying a negative response by the majority of viewers.

In conclusion, Space Jam: A New Legacy is shaping out to be what most of these remakes end up being: a box office hit and a critical flop.

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