It turns out that Mel Brooks has not been keeping up with all the Star Wars movies for the last 38 years. The legendary writer/director/actor who in 1987 parodied the fan-favorite franchise with his film Spaceballs, is putting together a sequel along with producer/star Josh Gad.
Spaceballs is a satirical sci-fi comedy released by MGM in 1987. The film’s plot revolves around the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) and President Skroob (Brooks), who attempt to steal the atmosphere of the peaceful planet Druidia, only to be thwarted by the hero Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), his sidekick Barf (John Candy), and the Druish princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga).
Spaceballs (1987) | Official Trailer | MGM Studios
During a recent podcast interview, Gad explained that while he pitched the Space Balls sequel, he needed to go into great details about what has happened in Star Wars since Return of the Jedi. “When we were pitching him the original conceit for what we wanted to do with the film, at the beginning he goes, ‘I’m just telling you now, I want you to really go into detail because I don’t know a lot about the new ‘Star Wars’ films.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’”
The pitch, which lasted around 40 minutes, tapped into Gad’s vast knowledge of the world created by George Lucas. “It’s literally like, I am a combat vet just going to war in front of one person. I’m sweating, I am getting into every line and every beat and every comedic set piece, every reveal. I’m painting all of it and I’m speaking to how this speaks to a certain ‘Star Wars’ moment.” At the end, Brooks told him “‘it really sounds like you’ve got your finger on the pulse,’” which Gad then called “the greatest compliment I could have ever gotten, even though there’s no context for it for Mel. He really just trusted everything I had to say.”
In 2013, Rick Moranis stated that, a few years after the original film’s release, he and Mel Brooks discussed a sequel, titled Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II. However, Moranis and Brooks were unable to agree on a deal. In February 2015, Mel Brooks stated that he is definitely open to making a second movie. With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens later that year, Brooks figured it would be the perfect time to release a second installment to his beloved franchise; though he had some obstacles, such as getting the then retired Rick Moranis to reprise his role as the evil Dark Helmet (Brooks refused to make the movie without him) and having to sign a deal with Disney to spoof Star Wars yet again — as when he made the first film, he sought approval from George Lucas.
The script is done, and the film will be directed by Josh Greenbaum from a screenplay by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and Josh Gad. Gad will star in the film and Kevin Salter will serve as an executive producer. We recommend that Mr. Brooks cash the MGM check quickly.
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English (US) · 