'Space Jam' sequel, 'Diana:The Musical' lead Razzie winners
LeBron James and Bugs Bunny in "Space Jam: A New Legacy." The sequel received three Golden Raspberry Awards panning the sports-themed movie. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
A day before the Oscars, the 42nd annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst in last year's cinema lambasted "Diana: The Musical" and "Space Jam: A New Legacy," as well as stars including Academy Award-winner Jared Leto and Bruce Willis.
The Razzies, voted upon this year by 1,128 fee-paying members from 49 states and more than two dozen countries, the organization says, on Saturday bestowed its greatest approbation upon the Netflix film of the Broadway flop "Diana: The Musical," shot onstage at the Longacre Theatre prior to opening. It received five awards, landing Worst Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actress (Jeanna de Waal as Princess Diana) and Supporting Actress (Judy Kaye in the dual roles of Queen Elizabeth and romance novelist and Diana's step-grandmother Barbara Cartland).
Close behind was "Space Jam: A New Legacy," a sequel to the 1996 animated feature starring NBA legend Michael Jordan alongside such Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The new version, also about a high-stakes basketball game in outer space, earned Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, as well as Worst Actor for NBA star LeBron James, and Worst Couple for "LeBron James & Any Warner Cartoon Character (or WarnerMedia Product) He Dribbles On."
Leto, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 2013 real-life drama "Dallas Buyers Club," took Worst Supporting Actor for his role as Paolo Gucci in "House of Gucci."
In a special category, Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie, voters could pick from among eight films that year featuring the vaunted star of "Die Hard" and "Pulp Fiction." His role as Gen. James Ford in the video-on-demand sci-fi combat movie "Cosmic Sin" won out over his performances in "American Siege," "Apex," "Deadlock," "Fortress," "Midnight in the Switchgrass," "Out of Death" and "Survive the Game."
Finally, four-time Golden Raspberry winner Will Smith — who on Sunday won the Oscar for Best Actor for playing Richard Williams, father of tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams, in the biographical drama "King Richard" — was given the Razzie Redeemer Award. The trophy recognizes his return from the depths of his two 2014 Razzies for "After Earth" (Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Screen Combo) and his two in 2000 for "Wild Wild West" (Worst Screen Couple, Worst Original Song).
