Way back in freaking 1987, an iconic and beloved parody movie to end all parody movies, made and directed and even starred in by the amazing Mel Brooks, the movie Spaceballs was released. The movie itself promised a sequel even way back then, but its taken the determination of some forever-fans, with the help of the newer generations, after waiting some 40 freaking years for it, to bring the sequel to life!
Late Friday afternoon Hall H was packed to bursting and everyone was thrilled when, a huge fanboy himself in real life, Kevin Smith came out to moderate the panel for Spaceballs II: The New One. He happily introduced the people trooping onstage – director Josh Greenbaum, screenwriters David Hernandez and Benji Samit, co-writer and star Josh Gad, OG cast member Daphne Zuniga, and newcomers Keke Palmer and Lewis Pullman. Rick Moranis was found after combing the audience, sporting his iconic Dark Helmet helmet, and received a well-deserved standing ovation when he finally took the stage. And of course creator Mel Brooks, who just recently when the panel was shown had turned 90 years young, was absent from the panel but sent a heartfelt recorded message to all of us, the cherished forever-fans.
Most fans of Spaceballs have by now heard the story of how mega-fan Josh Gad was convinced by his daughter to take on the monumental task of getting Spaceballs II made, but he of course reiterated the tale for everyone anyway. Gad was taking his girl on a tour of Mel Brooks’ movies and after watching the original Spaceballs, the tiny tot asked her daddy to put in the sequel, to which he had to reply, there wasn’t one. And when faced with the simple, “Why not?” from his baby-girl-mini-fan, Gad resolved to take a shot at making such a monumental film. How he wrote the proposed sequel obsessively with help and, taking his balls and courage in hand, called up Mel Brooks himself directly. And how, after listening to Gad nervously but excitedly wax poetic about their script proposal for almost an hour mostly in silence, Brooks told him that, “(he) had been waiting for this moment for forty years,” and they are doing this thing!
Director Josh Greenbaum spoke happily about the yips that come with trying to direct a movie sequel behind a film from the legendary Mel Brooks, and how Brooks’ advice to him was in the same comedic vein he always is: “He tells me, ‘Don’t say ‘Cut’ first, say ‘Action’ first!’”
Newcomers to the Spaceballs universe Lewis Pullman, son of Bill Pullman, who played Lone Star in the first film, will play Starburst, Lone Star’s son in the sequel; and Keke Palmer stated she can’t give much away about her brand new character other than her name – Destiny. We are intrigued already, y’all!
Asked if he kept any souvenirs from the iconic first film, Rick Moranis proceeded to share that his glasses from each and every film he ever did are all his own prescription glasses, and as such, he kept every last pair, including the ones from Spaceballs.
Gad teased that yes, he is playing a brand new Mawg (“Mawg, I’m a Mawg, half-man, half-dog, I’m my own best friend!”) in the sequel. And the entire cast laid another round of compliments on working with the legendary Mel Brooks for a sequel some forty-odd years later, with Rick Moranis concluding, “There’s room in a Brooks movie for the smartest joke and the dumbest joke.”
And then, fans and fan-atics alike, Josh Gad was asked the pertinent question on so many folks’ minds – Will the sequel be the start of a whole Spaceballs franchise, or what? To which Gad practically preened and said yes, he had whole plans for this idea. The screens on either side of the stage in Hall H expanded to take in much of the whole room, combed sand dunes being replaced with giant Marvel and DC style movie and TV show trees. We begin, Gad said with a barely restrained giant smirk, with the new sequel as the starting point, calling it the Almighty Schwartz Saga, or A.S.S. for convenience sake, right, of course it is. Tossing in prequels and sequels with titles like Winnebago Nights, The Franchise Wars and Super Duper Secret Wars, plus inevitably Dark Helmet Origins, Pizza the Hut, Yogurt, Lone Star, Vespa and even Dot Matrix, and finally, several incarnations of Spaceballs the Musical. And it’s with that last joke at our expense, with Gad’s promise of keeping this A.S.S.whole saga nice and tight for us the fans, that we end of the Spaceballs II panel, with a ticket for an exclusive poster in the pocket too!
Spaceballs II : The New One is promised to us to hit theaters April 23rd, 2027!
Written by Alicia Glass