Mel Brooks’ ‘Spaceballs’ Sequel Is A Go — ‘The Schwartz Awakens’ Posters Spoof ‘The Force Awakens’
The Spaceballs movie was notorious at spoofing the Star Wars franchise, and is at it again. With The Force Awakens having been released, it would make sense to spoof it. According to The Nerdist and to long time comedic genius Mel Brooks, it’s going to become a reality.
This. Mel Brooks confirms development on Spaceballs sequel, hopefully with the original cast http://t.co/Iu635pZK5D pic.twitter.com/C4Gze7bqvQ
— Daphne Zuniga (@DaphneZuniga) February 7, 2015
The Nerdist reported the news on Adam Corolla’s podcast, Take A Knee. It was there that it was confirmed by Brooks that a sequel is underway. It’s in the “early phases of development.” Since the franchise is back in business with a new movie, with the seventh installment helmed by Star Trek rebooter J.J. Abrams, it would make sense for Mel Brooks to parody it.
It’s tentatively entitled, Spaceballs: The Search For More Money which was a title already mentioned by Yogurt, played by Brooks. Brooks is also wanting “to potentially start filming in early 2016,” which is shortly after The Force Awaken’s release, according to Blastr.
Brooks is also wanting to bring on board as much as the previous cast to the sequel. The thing is, according to Blastr earlier this year, “a lot of the weight falls on Rick Moranis.” Last year, an interview with Brooks by Parade revealed that without Moranis, Brooks wouldn’t do it, but mentioned his helmet is in storage and available when ready.
“I’ve got the helmet in storage, just waiting for him. [Laughs] It’ll fit nobody else. Rick is five-five-and-a-half. It’s a perfect fit for the big helmet.”
The original Spaceballs movie was released in 1987, four years after Return of the Jedi. Would this mean a similar timing of the parody’s release date? Of course, some of the actors that played the beloved characters are no longer with us. Dick Van Patton, who played Princess Vespa’s father, King Roland, died this year. Joan Rivers, who played the C-3PO knock-off, Dot Matrix, left this world last year. And comedy legend John Candy played Barf. So with these actors not returning for the Mel Brooks movie, one can only wonder what kind of story this will be.
Those Spaceballs actors that are still with us and still performing today are Bill Pullman, who played Lone Starr, and is slated for Independence Day: Resurgence. Then there is love interest Princess Vespa, played by Daphne Zuniga, who tweeted in February the original Blastr report. So she is aware of the Spaceballs buzz.
Rick Moranis hasn’t been as active an actor since the Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves movie, which was released in 1997. After that, he had some voice over work, according to The Nerdist. An interview with The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Moranis is indeed “looking for the right project.” He did pass on a cameo appearance in the upcoming Paul Feig directed Ghostbusters movie.
The Spaceballs satirical humor doesn’t stop there. Recently a report by Slash Film revealed Spaceballs posters, spoofing Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Spaceballs: The Schwartz Awakens. It’s a three-print set sold by Nakatomi, Inc. and created by artist Joshua Budich.
#TheSchwartzAwakens Joshua Budich takes a page out of @ollymoss' book to give #Spaceballs the #StarWars treatment pic.twitter.com/lEENuIKncx
— Tangent (@TangentAgency) December 8, 2015
The poster dimensions are 18 x 24 and either sold separately or as a three piece set, and apparently have even spoofed the Mondo-produced, Olly Moss artwork of the original Star Wars trilogy set of posters released in 2010. Moss even gave his feedback regarding the Spaceballs parody of movie posters.
“But do I like these Budich posters? No, not particularly. When I look at them, I only see all the things I dislike about my originals. The things that I would go back and do differently (my sympathies for Mr. Lucas, here). But they’re parody posters for a parody movie. It’s a strong concept.”
A parody of a parody? How deep can this format of comedy can go? Will there be tiered-parodies entailed in the new Spaceballs: The Search For More Money movie sequel?
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment]
