LeBron James is bringing us a new version of 'House Party'
LeBron James’ expanding reach outside of baskeball goes all the way back to the early ’90s, apparently, because the NBA’s biggest star has announced plans to produce a new version of “House Party.”
The Kid-N-Play film series debuted in 1990, but LeBron and Maverick Carter, his partner in SpringHill Entertainment, are aiming to bring the movie back for a new generation. James told The Hollywood Reporter:
“This is definitely not a reboot. It’s an entirely new look for a classic movie. Everyone I grew up with loved ‘House Party.’ To partner with this creative team to bring a new House Party to a new generation is unbelievable.”
That’s not just lip service either. There’s already documented proof of King James doing a Kid-N-Play dance.
If you’re a fan of FX’s celebrated comedy series “Atlanta,” then you’ll be thrilled to know that writers Stephen Glover (brother on Donald Glover) and Jamal Olori will pen the screenplay for the new “House Party.” Given James’ connections and friendships, there’s no doubt the film — like the originals — will be filled with entertainers you recognize. And probably athletes too. Drake is mentioned as a likely possiblity, given his friendship with LeBron.
Carter even hinted that LeBron will have a part in the movie if he wants one, telling The Hollywood Reporter:
“There’s no plan for it now, but he’s a fantastic actor, and if he wants a role, Stephen will find a great role to put him in.”
The question now becomes who takes on the Kid-N-Play roles in the new version of “House Party.” If LeBron & Co. are sticking to the original script, they’d look inside hip-hop for a young duo that you’d believe could throw a very cool house party. Some possiblities:
• Rae Sremmurd: Who knows if they can act, but brothers Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee are the right age and occupy a similar dancy-hip-hop space as Kid-N-Play did when the first “House Party” came out.
• Migos: They’re a little old if this is going to be a high-school movie, but Kid-N-Play were 26 and 28 when the original “House Party” dropped, so maybe it doesn’t matter. As for Migos, they made a cameo on “Atlanta” and we know LeBron is a fan. It also sets up pretty easily for Cardi B to be the film’s love interest since she’s engaged to Offset from Migos.
• Travis Scott and Young Thug: While not technically a duo, they often work together, have a lot of star power and given everything we know about Young Thug’s fashion sense, he’d almost definitely grow his hair like Kid for the role.
As for LeBron, we really just need a moment where he yells at someone: “Don’t bump the table, I’m trying to mix.”
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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
