space balls

Classic comedy director Mel Brooks has some promising news for fans of the 1987 cult favorite ‘Spaceballs’— a sequel may be coming!  MGM has expressed interest in reviving the brand, thanks to the runaway success of the new ‘Star Wars’ films, which– unlike the prequels– have been embraced by the public as true worthy successors of that franchise.

While attending a Q&A following a screening of his classic 1974 comedy ‘Young Frankenstein’, Brooks revealed that plans are in motion to revisit ‘Spaceballs’ a film that many were perplexed never got a proper sequel in the first place.  Brooks stated:

“Well, you know, I’m doing it. MGM is slightly interested in doing it because of the new Star Wars…They think maybe, so we’re talking.”

Brooks is now 91 years young, so it’s unclear if he would actually return to direct the sequel, which he said would be entitled ‘Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money’.  Brooks played Yogurt, the parody version of Yoda in the original.

The cast also included the Eighties-est of Eighties stars including Joan Rivers as the C-3PO stand-in Dot Matrix, John Candy as Barfolomew (Chewbacca), Rick Moranis as Lord Dark Helmet (Darth Vader), Bill Pullman as Captain Lone Starr (Han Solo) and Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa (Princess Leia).  Rivers and Zuniga reprised their roles on the G4 ‘Spaceballs: The Animated Series’ in 2008, which only lasted one season, but aired at a time that allowed the show to not only parody the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, but the prequels and other properties like ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’.

SpaceBalls

But sadly, like the ‘Star Wars’ series proper, the passage of time has robbed us of some of the original cast.  Rivers and Candy have passed, as has Dick Van Patten who played King Roland.  Moranis has chosen to focus mainly on voicing animation and was the only major cast member to pass on putting in a cameo in last year’s ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot, so it’s questionable as to whether he can be enticed to return.  At the very least, it’s likely that Zuniga and Pullman will return.  Pullman just reprised his role as President Whitmore in ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ so he clearly has no problem with revisiting his past projects.  Zuniga has mainly thrived on television, as a cast member of classic 90s series ‘Melrose Place’ as well as ‘One Tree Hill’ and in made-for-TV movies.  She would most likely be game for returning to the big screen.

‘Spaceballs’ wasn’t a massive success for MGM upon its initial release, which is probably why we haven’t received a proper film sequel before.  (It probably didn’t help that it came out a few years after the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy wrapped and interest in it waned.)  But over the years, much like Brooks’ other groundbreaking hits– ‘Young Frankenstein’, ‘The Producers’, ‘Blazing Saddles’ —  has garnered a place as one of the great film comedies.

Are you interested in seeing ‘Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money’?  Or do you feel that the original should be left alone?

Source: njpac via Screen Rant