It’s official: Production of the long-awaited “Spaceballs” sequel is underway.
Amazon MGM Studios made the announcement Thursday, months after director Mel Brooks confirmed a sequel for the 1987 sci-fi parody and cult classic.
‘Spaceballs’ sequel
What we know:
Rick Moranis will make a return to acting for the sequel, along with Brooks, Bill Pullman, Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman, Anthony Carrigan, Georgy Wyner, and Daphne Zuniga.
Moranis, Zuniga, Bill Pullman, Brooks, and Wyner will resume their iconic roles, while Gad, Palmer, Lewis Pullman and Carrigan will “take on brand-new characters whose identities are being kept tightly under wraps.”
Josh Greenbaum is directing. The script is by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez and Gad.
Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Jeb Brody are producing the film, alongside Brooks, Gad, Greenbaum and Kevin Salter. Adam Merims, Samit and Hernandez will executive produce.
What we don’t know:
Amazon MGM declined to say what the sequel’s title will be. The studio also hasn’t released the movie’s plot.
“Plot details are being kept under lock, key, and an industrial-strength Schwartz shield,” the studio said in a news release.
Timeline:
Production is underway, and the movie is slated for release in 2027.
Why did Rick Moranis stop acting?
The backstory:
Moranis was known for a slew of blockbuster films in the ‘80s and ‘90s, including “Ghostbusters,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” franchise, “The Flintstones” and more. He hasn’t starred in a movie since “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves,” the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” sequel, in 1997. He took a break from acting to raise his two children after his wife, Ann Belsky, died of breast cancer in 1991.
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“It wasn’t a formal decision,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “It began in an already busy year where I declined a film that was being shot out of town as the school year was beginning. But I was fortunate to be able to continue to make a living writing and doing voice work in Manhattan.”
Following his departure from movies, Moranis did some voice acting for Disney in 2003 and also did Canadian radio ads. He released comedy albums and wrote op-eds for The New York Times.
He was also expected to star in a “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” reboot called “Shrunk,” but the COVID-19 pandemic halted those plans.