As a child, Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs was a movie I watched over and over on VHS. It was so amazing to me that I did not realize it was a Star Wars-inspired parody. In fact, I was more interested in buying a Dark Helmet action figure like the one in the movie than a Darth Vader toy. But maybe we finally get that opportunity with the long-awaited sequel marking the cinematic return of comedy icon Rick Moranis.
Spaceballs 2 co-writer Josh Gad spoke with ScreenRant to promote his new film, Adulthood. Though trades have confirmed Moranis will be back as Dark Helmet, Gad played coy about it.
Well, I am not going to comment on whether or not Rick Moranis is returning, but hypothetically, if he were to return, I would say it’s because Rick would have felt like this was a project worthy of his return.
Aside from providing his voice to Disney’s Brother Bear movies, Moranis has been largely out of the movie scene since the late ‘90s. The comedian explained in a 2004 interview with Sound and Vision Magazine that family priorities and creative frustrations in playing starring roles caused him to step back from acting almost entirely. Efforts to bring him back to the screen with the latest Ghostbusters installments went unanswered. But Moranis nearly reprised another franchise character in Wayne Szalinski for a new Honey, I Shrunk the Kids installment opposite Gad for Disney that was unproduced.
Spaceballs was one of the few films allowing Moranis to rewrite his own material. So it should not come too much of a surprise that his loyalty to Brooks would entice his return. The fact that a Spaceballs sequel is really happening has Gad pinching himself.
What I can say is it is surreal. It’s surreal because I grew up with Spaceballs, and when the movie was prophesied in the first film, when Yogurt says, “God willing, we’ll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money,” I, like everyone else, was just anticipating that that would happen sooner than 40 years later.
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But I am so grateful it took that long because it’s the greatest gift on Earth to be able to not only be on the precipice of shooting this movie, but to be able to do it while Mel is still with us. So I’m thrilled. I’m beyond excited, and that’s about all I can say for now.
Moranis returns alongside Bill Pullman, reprising his role as Lone Starr and Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa. New franchise additions include Lewis Pullman and Keke Palmer. Gad co-writes the script with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. Josh Greenbaum takes the director reins from Brooks, who will serve as an executive producer.
Are you excited for Rick Moranis coming out of retirement for Spaceballs 2? Let us know in the comments.
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