We’re living in a new golden age of film franchises across Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Jurassic Park, and the dozens of other reboots, remakes, legacyquels, and prequels. That’s why it’s so surprising that it’s been a while since we’ve had a decent parody movie. Gone are the days of Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, and Airplane! Instead, parodies are limited to TikTok clips and episodes of Robot Chicken and Family Guy.
But now, the original franchise parody movie, Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, is coming back to parody all these decades-after cash-grab sequels by... making a decades-after, cash-grab sequel. But recent casting updates surrounding the movie reveal it’s not just parodying all of these franchise revivals — it might be doing a better job than any of them. Check out the announcement video below, which pokes fun at Hollywood’s franchise obsession.
Deadline reports that the previously-announced Spaceballs 2 starring Josh Gad will also incorporate a number of cast members reprising their roles. Rick Moranis will return as Dark Helmet, Bill Pullman will reprise the role of Lone Starr, and Spaceballs director Mel Brooks will bring back his Yoda analog Yogurt.
Each of these casting announcements is remarkable in its own way. Moranis’ return to Spaceballs will be the first time he’ll appear in a major motion picture release since 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves! After his wife passed away in 1991, he devoted his time to being a single parent. “I took a little bit of a break,” he told USA Today in 2005. “And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn't miss it.”
Bill Pullman’s return to the series is less surprising, as he’s remained active in the last few years, but he won’t be the only Pullman on set. His son Lewis Pullman, the breakout star from Thunderbolts, will also join the cast. Nope’s Keke Palmer is the other new face added to the call sheet.
But arguably the biggest coup for this new sequel is Mel Brooks’ return as Yogurt. Brooks is turning 99 years old this month, and by the time Spaceballs 2 premieres, he’ll be over 100 years old. But Yogurt — and Brooks’ other Spaceballs role, President Skroob — were the highlights of the original movie. With Josh Greenbaum directing in the place of Brooks, it was looking like the iconic filmmaker wouldn’t have his fingerprints on the movie at all, but thankfully, the heart and soul of the original movie will live on.
Spaceballs will premiere in 2027, the same year as the upcoming Star Wars movie Star Wars: Starfighter, so there’s still a while to wait, but as the cast takes shape, it seems pretty obvious that this won’t just be a movie poking fun at the new era of Star Wars: it’ll beat the nostalgia-bait genre at its own game.
