The ‘Spaceballs’ sequel will be Rick Moranis’ first appearance in a live-action movie since 1997’s ‘Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves!’
Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
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Rick Moranis stepped out at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 24 to hype up Mel Brooks fans for the upcoming sequel Spaceballs: The New One
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Moranis, who has not acted in a live-action project in nearly 30 years, reprises his role as the Darth Vader parody character Dark Helmet in the sequel to Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars spoof
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Spaceballs: The New One is in theaters April 23, 2027
Rick Moranis is bringing Spaceball One straight to San Diego Comic-Con.
Moranis, 73, stepped out in San Diego on Friday, July 24 to promote the upcoming sequel Spaceballs: The New One, alongside costars Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman and Daphne Zuniga, as well as director Josh Greenbaum and screenwriters Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez. The legendary actor received a standing ovation from the audience at Comic-Con’s famous Hall H as he stepped onto the stage wearing his character Dark Helmet’s humorously large black hat following the rest of the cast’s arrival for a panel with moderator Kevin Smith.
Moranis’ involvement in the new Spaceballs movie marks a major return to the big screen for the actor. After his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky, died of breast cancer in 1991, he stepped away from show business to raise their two children, daughter Rachel and son Mitchell. Moranis last appeared in a live-action movie in 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, though he has taken on several voice acting roles over the last two decades.
During the panel, Gad suggested that the Spaceballs sequel came about because he and Moranis had originally discussed making a new Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie.
“The truth is that I had to say yes to this thing. It was the only way I could get Josh Gad to stop texting me,” Moranis deadpanned. “Actually, I started talking to Mel about the sequel in 1989. “We kept talking about it. I really wasn’t retired; I was just negotiating.”
“But no, this came along right at the right time, and I started talking to these folks and hearing who was going to be in it,” he added. “I spoke to Josh Greenbaum and I heard that Bill Pullman was coming back and that Lewis was going to be in it too, and it just felt like this is it. It’s time and — yes. I said yes, and it is the best decision I’ve ever made.”
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Amazon MGM Studios officially announced that Moranis would star in the sequel to Brooks’ 1987 spoof comedy Spaceballs and reprise his role as the Darth Vader parody Dark Helmet in September 2025. Deadline originally reported that Moranis would reprise his character in the movie in June 2025.
Spaceballs is primarily a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy. In September, the studio also confirmed reports that Bill Pullman, who played the Han Solo/Luke Skywalker parody character Lone Starr in the original movie, will appear in the new film alongside his son Lewis, 33.
Neither Bill, 72, nor Brooks, who turned 100 on June 28, appeared in person at the Comic-Con panel on July 24, but both men filmed videos to share with the audience during the panel. Moranis also said that he had not seen Brooks in person in nearly four decades before they began work on the sequel.
“I just kept getting phone calls from him every time another Star Wars would come out, and he would say, ‘We have to make the sequel. We have to make the sequel,’ ” Moranis said. “When this finally happened, I came out to Los Angeles, went over to his house for the first time in 39 years.
Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty
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Spaceballs: The New One is in theaters April 23, 2027.
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