(L to R) John Candy, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga and Bill Pullman in ‘Spaceballs’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Preview
- Mel Brooks is set to return as Yogurt for the ‘Spaceballs’ sequel movie.
- Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga are aboard to reprise their roles.
- Josh Greenbaum is directing for Amazon/MGM.
The Schwarz is still strong with Mel Brooks and his ‘Spaceballs’ cast.
Following on from the news a year ago that Brooks and Josh Gad were leading the development of a sequel to Brooks’ 1987 ‘Star Wars’ (and other sci-fi movies) comedy riff.
Amazon MGM Studios has announced that, as we perhaps might have predicted, Brooks will be back in front of the camera as well as behind it, playing the mystical, Yoda-spoofing Yogurt.
[Shortcode: cloS09s7a0JwesCtRhfAA1]
Gad is on board to co-write and produce, and will likely be showing up on screen in some capacity.
And that’s not all: there has been a flurry of other casting stories, with Deadline bringing word that Bill Pullman is returning to play Lone Starr, while in even more surprising news, Rick Moranis will be back as the villainous Dark Helmet.
The Wrap, meanwhile, has a report that Daphne Zuniga plans to join her old ‘Spaceballs’ colleagues, playing Princess Vespa.
It’s not just veterans, either: Deadline’s report mentions that ‘One of Them Days’ star Keke Palmer is also aboard the movie, playing an unknown new role called Destiny.
Keeping it in the family, meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter has the story that Bill’s son Lewis Pullman, recently seen in ‘Thunderbolts,’ will join the cast to play a character named Starburst, the son of Lone Star and Vespa.
Related Article: Mel Brooks and Josh Gad are Planning a Sequel to ‘Spaceballs’
What was the story of ‘Spaceballs’?
(L to R) Bill Pullman and Mel Brooks in ‘Spaceballs’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The original ‘Spaceballs’, directed by Brooks from a script he wrote with Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham, starred Bill Pullman as the aforementioned Lone Starr, a scruffy hero in the Han Solo mold who has to stop the nefarious President Skroob (Brooks) from stealing the atmosphere of the peaceful planet Druidia.
Along the way, he comes to the aid of Vespa (Zuniga) and her sarcastic robot maid Dot Matrix (voiced by Joan Rivers). John Candy plays Starr’s faithful half-man/half-dog sidekick Barf and Moranis is superb Vader spoof Dark Helmet.
‘Spaceballs’ doesn’t just target George Lucas’ work, however: there are also riffs on the likes of ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘Star Trek’ and in one particularly memorable moment, ‘Alien’.
Though the movie didn’t exactly triumph at the box office (it ended up with $38.1 million worldwide) but has long since been considered a cult classic.
Plot details for the new film have yet to be revealed, but Deadline mentions that people who have not yet read the script describe it as “A Non-Prequel Non-Reboot Sequel Part Two but with Reboot Elements Franchise Expansion Film.” Which if you ask us, sounds like the sort of line Mel Brooks would spin about the movie in order to get a laugh.
Who is making the new ‘Spaceballs’?
Director Josh Greenbaum with Reggie on the set of ‘Strays.’
With Gad on board to star and produce, he’s also co-written the script with Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, who worked on ‘Pokémon: Detective Pikachu’.
Josh Greenbaum, who made ‘Strays’ (for which Gad provided a voice) and ‘Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar’, is in the director’s chair. He feels like a good fit for a new ‘Spaceballs’, since he’s proved he can handle wacky comedy with some emotional undertones.
Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment is also aboard, and he’ll producing alongside Brooks, Gad, Jeb Brody and Greenbaum, with Kevin Salter, Adam Merims, Samit, and Hernandez as executive producers.
(L to R) Rick Moranis and George Wyner in ‘Spaceballs’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Moranis is perhaps the most shocking of the new announcements, since he’s barely been seen on screens for more than a decade and hasn’t come back for extensions of other franchises such as ‘Ghostbusters’.
Here’s what he told Heeb magazine back in 2013 about the stalled original plan for a ‘Spaceballs’ sequel:
“I wasn’t privy to what the budget was or anything, but the deal [Brooks] presented me, what he wanted me to do, was not workable. It was two or three years later. He wanted me to… it’s better if I don’t get into the particulars of it. Because it is so specific, it’s counterproductive to talk about it. But I was unable to make a deal, and it would have been something I would have wanted to do. But that ship has sailed.”
Looks like the ship has come back into the harbor!
When will the ‘Spaceballs’ sequel be on screens?
While Amazon MGM Studios has yet to confirm an exact date, Deadline mentions a planned 2027 theatrical launch.
Mel Brooks in ‘Spaceballs’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
List of Mel Brooks Movies and TV Shows:
Buy Mel Brooks Movies on Amazon