The original Spaceballs is nearly 40 years old, and yet the brilliance of Mel Brooks continues to shine through, inspiring generation after generation. All these years later, it has even inspired a sequel, spearheaded and co-written by Josh Gad. It’s called Spaceballs: The New One, and it’s going to hit theaters next April as part of the 2027 movie schedule. And, apparently, it was an even younger generation, represented by Gad’s daughter, that inspired the actor and comedian to approach Brooks and pitch the sequel.
The Spaceballs Joke That Set Things Off
At the recent celebration of all things Spaceballs in Hall H at San Diego Comic Con last week, Gad explained how he began to formulate the idea for the movie, which started with a comment from his daughter. According to Gad at SDCC, he was talking about doing another sequel with a Spaceballs alum, Rick Moranis, and showed his daughter the irreverent sci-fi spoof, as they watched Moranis’ filmography together. He recalled (via People):
Rick [Moranis] and I were actually supposed to do a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. And I was showing my daughter that movie, and she’s like, ‘Oh my God, I need to see more stuff with him.’ She fell in love with him, rightfully so. So I showed her Little Shop of Horrors. I showed her Ghostbusters. Then we got to Spaceballs.
Speaking for myself, I love Spaceballs. It’s near the top of my list of best Mel Brooks movies, but Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a movie I never connected with, so this is all headed in the right direction. As for Spaceballs, if you remember, there is a joke at the end of the original when Brooks’ character Yogurt says to Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) that they all might be reunited in “Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.” That sparked an idea from Gad’s daughter. He explained:
When we finished it, she goes, ‘Can we watch part two?’ And I said, ‘There is no part two.’ She goes, ‘Yeah, the weird little alien guy has said that there’s going to be a part two.’ And I said, ‘Oh, sweetie, that’s called a joke.’ She goes, ‘Well, why isn’t there a part two?’ And I was like, ‘That is a really good question. I went to bed that night, and I’ve told this story before, but I literally had a dream of what I thought the movie should be.
The young Gad has a point, why isn’t there a Part Two, after all, Brooks joked about it, right? Well, there is now, and that’s thanks to Gad doing something that many in the industry would likely be intimidated to do, he approached the legendary Brooks with an idea. According to Gad:
I don’t know what gave me the balls to do this, but I called up Mel Brooks and his producing partner, Kevin Salter, who’s in the audience. And I did the most intense 40-minute pitch of this movie, and he’s just silently listening. At the end of it, he goes, ‘Josh, it sounds like you really got your finger on the pulse. I don’t know half of what you’re talking about, but I really like it.’
The idea of taking on a sequel for one of the most beloved movies of a generation decades after the original takes serious cajones. Getting Rick Moranis, who has been basically retired from Hollywood for almost three decades himself, to join the cast only adds to the almost mythical tinge that Spaceballs: The New One has taken on. Like it or not, there is huge pressure to create something worthy of both of these monumental events.
For me personally, I’m confident that the writers and cast are going to live up to the hype, given what I’ve seen and read, so to them, I say, “May the Schwartz be with you all,” and the search for more money will be a fruitful one. In the meantime, I’m going to fire up my MGM+ add-on to my Prime Video subscription and watch the original. Again.
