Los Angeles, May 2 (EFE).- Moviemaker Justin Lin, known for his work on a number of “Fast & Furious” action films about illegal street racing and other shady dealings, is currently in negotiations to direct the sequel of “Space Jam” starring NBA basketball player Lebron James, The Hollywood Reporter said Monday.

If the deal is finally struck, Lin, besides directing and producing the film, would write the screenplay together with Andrew Dodge and Alfredo Botello.

Born in Taiwan in 1973, Lin was the director from the third to the sixth movie of the “Fast & Furious” saga: “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” (2006), “Fast & Furious” (2009), “Fast Five” (2011) and “Furious 6” (2013).

Lin will also premiere this summer “Star Trek Beyond” featuring actors Idris Elba, Zoe Saldaña and Chris Pine.

The original “Space Jam” film, a big box-office hit that debuted in 1996, mixed animated Looney Tunes cartoons with real-life images, and featured basketball’s all-time all-star Michael Jordan in the leading role.

With Jordan in the cast were other outstanding NBA players the likes of Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Larry Bird.

The film, all about a game that Jordan and his cartoon team play against a squad of extraterrestrials, had a box-office take of $230 million worldwide.

Rumors of a possible “Space Jam” sequel, with the leading role shifting to Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lebron James, have insistently done the rounds in Hollywood since in July 2015 his company SpringHill Entertainment signed an agreement on the project with Warner Bros.

In any case, it would not be James’s first big-screen appearance, given that he played a supporting role in the 2015 comedy “Trainwreck” by Amy Schumer. EFE