'Memes & Nightmares,' LeBron James-Produced Film About NBA Twitter, to Premiere at Tribeca Festival

Apr 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts to a call.
Apr 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts to a call. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James's distinguished career has come of age with—and facilitated—the NBA's rise as a digital cultural touchstone.

Now, James is attached to a film about the phenomenon.

Memes & Nightmares, an 81-minute movie for which James serves as an executive producer, is set to premiere at New York's prestigious Tribeca Festival in June. The film, listed under the action, comedy, documentary, mystery and sports categories, follows ex-UCLA forward and NBA Twitter maven Josiah Johnson in an exploration of "our relationship with ephemeral media, and each other in the digital age."

Alongside Johnson, former NBA players Darius Miles and J.R. Smith are listed among the cast.

This will mark James's fourth film production credit, following 2021's commercial and critical flop Space Jam: A New Legacy, the 2022 hockey racism exposé Black Ice, and a 2023 House Party reboot.

James's Lakers are scheduled to open their playoff run Saturday evening against the Denver Nuggets.


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Patrick Andres

PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .