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It's gotta be the shoes.

That's the theory behind Like Mike, which stars teen hip-hop star Lil' Bow Wow as Calvin Cambridge, a 14-year-old orphan who harbors dreams of becoming a famous basketball player, but whose diminutive size and limited skills make the goal a nearly-unattainable fantasy. When he starts wearing a pair of old sneakers with the faded initials "MJ" inside, he begins to display amazing abilities on the court, and eventually has the opportunity to join an NBA professional basketball team.

The title of the film is derived from an early-'90s Gatorade advertising campaign featuring Michael Jordan. Though it is unclear at this time as to whether Jordan himself will appear in the movie, we do know that eight other NBA stars completed their scenes during recent All-Star festivities in Philadelphia. The roster includes Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Gary Payton and Rasheed Wallace.

Starring with Lil' Bow Wow is Morris Chestnut, who plays one of the teenager 's teammates on a fictional NBA team created just for this film, the Knights. Jerry Maguire's Jonathan Lipnicki and Crispin Glover (Back to the Future, Charlie's Angels) are also in the cast.

20th Century Fox has two angles from which to approach the marketing on Like Mike, the NBA stars and the popularity of Lil' Bow Wow, enabling them to target both adult and youth-oriented audiences. Since films like Snow Dogs and Big Fat Liar have shown that the teen market is one that is hungry for a fun product, Like Mike could be poised for a breakout at the box office. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

April 25, 2002
Variety reports that Like Mike has been moved to a holiday release on the Independence Day holiday weekend. Originally scheduled for July 12th, this is the second move the film has seen in the course of a few weeks. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

June 16, 2002
Like Mike is a film that is going to surprise. The trailer is enjoying outstanding reception from both adults and children and has been prominently featured in front of some of the biggest family films of the year, including Ice Age and Scooby-Doo. Also worth mentioning is the fact that this film is in fact the most visited preview page at Box Office Prophets, consistently beating out blockbusters such as Spider-Man, Star Wars and Scooby-Doo on a week-to-week basis. One of the vital elements necessary for a family film to score true success is cross-generational appeal, and this is one film that seems to be such a draw. Like Mike has strong awareness and is hitting on an important family weekend, which should translate to numbers that will probably come as a shock to a number of forecasters who won’t have the film on radar. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Vital statistics for Like Mike Main Cast Lil' Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki Supporting Cast Robert Forster, Crispin Glover, Da Brat, Eugene Levy, Anne Meara, Jesse Plemons, Jermaine Dupri Director John Schultz Screenwriter Michael Elliot, Jordan Moffet Distributor Twentieth Century Fox Trailer Click Here for Trailer Official Site http://www.likemikemovie.com/ Rating PG Running Time 99 minutes Screen Count 2,436 Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for Like Mike
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Space Jam	11/15/96	27.53	37.55	2650	10389.00	13632.6	90.44	123.38	3.29
D2: The Mighty Ducks	3/25/94	10.36	15.31	2182	4748.00	6749.6	45.60	67.39	4.40
Blue Chips *	2/18/94	10.12	14.95	1980	5111.00	7265.6	22.36	33.04	2.21
Cool Runnings	10/1/93	7.05	10.26	1387	5083.00	7121.1	68.66	100.00	9.74
D3: The Mighty Ducks	10/4/96	6.17	8.41	2056	3001.00	3938.0	22.90	31.24	3.71
Mighty Ducks, The	10/2/92	6.04	8.77	1280	4719.00	6595.2	50.75	73.73	8.40
Air Up There, The	1/7/94	5.24	7.74	1507	3477.00	4942.8	20.78	30.71	3.97
Kazaam	7/19/96	5.00	6.82	2012	2485.00	3260.9	18.88	25.75	3.36
Sandlot, The	4/9/93	4.92	7.16	1772	2777.00	3890.5	31.78	46.28	6.24
Air Bud	8/1/97	4.72	6.20	1795	2630.00	3323.3	23.81	31.27	5.04
Air Bud 2: Golden Reciever	8/14/98	2.60	3.34	1669	1558.00	1926.7	10.01	12.86	3.85