Mel Brooks wants a Spaceballs sequel, but the bigger question is, do we?
Well, do we?
I would tentatively say yes… but honestly I haven’t seen that movie in full since I was like 12 (I’m not ashamed to admit that my friends and I were borderline obsessed with it). I attempted a rewatch a few months ago though, and to be honest, it really did not hold up.
That being said, the movie did set up a sequel in one of its funniest bits (Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money), so what the hell, why not?
So what’s the word on this sequel?
Mel Brooks himself recently appeared on Adam Carolla’s Take a Knee podcast, where he revealed that he was interested in pursuing a sequel to the 1987 movie. He added that if it does happen, it will follow closely after Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
If I did a movie that came out right after Star Wars comes out, you know, maybe a couple of months later, Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money, I’d have a big weekend, you know, no matter what, even if it fell on its ass and you know, didn’t get that money back.
But that first weekend, the anticipation of seeing Spaceballs 2, would, you know…I still have Daphne Zuniga and I still have Rick Moranis if he’d do it, and I’ve still got me.
A couple of months after Episode VII?
Yeah, that doesn’t seem like a whole lot of time, does it? Episode VII hits theaters in December, so that’d give Brooks just about a year (albeit this is his own timeline) to get this project together.
On the other hand, it’s not like this movie is The Avengers or anything. The hardest part about getting it off the ground would probably be assembling the cast.
About that cast…
That’d probably be the biggest hurdle, considering both John Candy and Joan Rivers have passed away, and Rick Moranis hasn’t acted in over a decade. That being said, Bill Pullman’s still around and active, as is Daphne Zuniga, so we could at least have Lone Starr and Princess Vespa in the mix.
Any chance this turns out well?
There’s always a chance, but let’s hasn’t made a movie since the mid-90s, and he went out on a critical and commercial flop with Dracula: Dead and Loving It (despite nabbing Leslie Nielsen in the starring role).
That doesn’t exactly scream confidence, but hey, you can’t count a guy that talented out. Mel Brooks was responsible for some of the best moments of my moviegoing childhood, and frankly, if Spaceballs 2 happens, I’m going to see it.
