The Schwartz was stronger than ever in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con. A packed room of thousands of fans cheering on the panel for a sequel nearly 40 years in the making, Spaceballs: The New One. Rick Moranis' presence was an understandable major deal for the audience, with the comedy legend making his long-awaited return to the screen as he reprises his role as the villain Dark Helmet.
Moderator Kevin Smith introduced Moranis with what turned into an elaborate bit where he failed to walk on stage, only for some costumed Spaceball soldiers "Combing the crowd" (giant comb included, naturally) to find him. When Moranis actually did take the stage, he got a massive standing ovation. Not there in person was another legend, original Spaceballs writer and director Mel Brooks, with the 100 year old (!
) sending a very funny video, in which he cracked jokes like, “Sorry I can’t be there! I’m on convention floor trying to buy a rare Charizard card!” and "When I was your age, on a Friday, I’d go to something called 'work.'
" Brooks'age came up when discussing him reprising his role as Yogurt. In the original film, Brooks wore elaborate makeup, but Brooks informed director Josh Greenbaum and writers Josh Gad (who also produced), Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit that while he was excited to participate, he couldn't do the makeup anymore. Instead, Yogurt will now be a digital character, with Brooks providing the voice.
Greenbaum laughed about how Brooks had dots on his face at his first voice recording sessions for the mocap team to use as reference points, only for Brooks to declare "I don’t need the dots.” Greenbaum got the OK from the VFX supervisors to proceed without them. It was Gad who got the ball rolling on Spaceballs returning inspired to do so after he and Moranis were going to make a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids follow-up that never came to be.
He pitched his idea to Brooks, who was excited by it. Gad said he felt the time was right for a Spaceballs sequel because it can comment on how we are living in an age of nostalgia and how there is now so much more Star Wars to parody when the first Spaceballs only had the original trilogy as its basis. Gad apologized that even though this is a parody of Star Wars, they still were keeping actual secrets like a Star Wars movie, including details on new characters played by Keke Palmer and Gad (though Lewis Pullman is confirmed to play Starburst, the son of Bill Pullman's Lone Star and Daphne Zuniga's Queen Vespa).
Gad said he wanted Spaceballs: The New One to be a love letter to someone who sat alongside Moranis on Gad's personal comedy Mount Rushmore, the late John Candy. Gad stressed he was not playing Candy's character, Barf, but is playing another Mawg, Barf's alien species. Gad also promised an that there will be an acknowledgement in the film to other original Spaceballs cast members who have passed away, including Joan Rivers, Dick Van Patten and Dom DeLuise.
The panel wrapped up with a montage of footage from the film that was a slightly re-edited version of the footage first shown at the Amazon AMC CinemaCon panel in April. Some of the gags from that earlier version — such as a Harry Potter parody moment — were removed, but there were also new bits, like Dark Helmet proclaiming"Somehow I've returned... Somehow!"
We also see a Doctor Strange-style portal open, glimpses of Palmer's character Destiny sporting a decidedly Rey-influenced look, and many other rapid-fire gags, including Yogurt getting hit by a freeze blast and someone proclaiming,"Frozen Yogurt!" It was all backed by a choir singing the Spaceballs theme song from the original film. The Spaceballs panel was also notable for being one of the rare Hall H panels to use the special side screens, usually saved for would-be epic event movies that want to make a visual impact.
This made it all the funnier when the filmmakers did a mock Spaceballs Cinematic Universe slate reveal that included dozens of titles that spanned 11 phases with titles like 2 Space 2 Balls, Pizza the Hutt: Cheesy Does It, Spaceballs vs. Spaceballs vs. Spaceballs, The Space and The Balls, Spaceballs: The Lawsuit, Spaceballs: Enough is Enough, and Spaceballs: Enough is Never Enough.
Moranis stated it was the right time for him to return in Spaceballs: The New One, noting he had a terrific time making it." I was in that outfit and I was in the helmet and it felt really strange and it started to feel really good and I started to love it,"He stated about being on set again." And who knows?
Maybe it’s the beginning of many." (Just probably not 11 phases worth...