Mel Brooks may be about to turn 98 years old but the legendary comedic writer and director is still hard at work. And for his next project, he's tackling a sequel to one of his most beloved movies, Spaceballs.
Brooks is teaming up with actor Josh Gad, best known as Olaf from the Frozen film franchise. Gad will co-write the film, while Brooks will produce the sequel.
What role Gad will play has not been confirmed, but in an Instagram post announcing the project, he hinted that it might be that of Barf, the parody of Chewbacca played by John Candy in the 1987 original Spaceballs.
The original Spaceballs was a slapstick parody of Star Wars that also riffs on Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Alien and other sci-fi and space opera classics.
In addition to Candy's Barf, it starred Bill Pullman as a Han Solo-like character, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, Rick Moranis as the villain Lord Dark Helmet, Joan Rivers as C-3PO-like robot Dot Matrix, and Brooks himself as President Skroob (Brooks backwards), the incompetent leader of Planet Spaceball.
In his post, which featured a side-by-side photo of him and John Candy as Barf, Gad expressed his excitement about working with Brooks, along with his co-writers Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, and the film's director Josh Greenbaum.
He wrote:
"My phone has never exploded as hard as it did today. We are very excited!"
"Early days still, but working with the legendary Mel freaking Brooks to make something worthy of this franchise and his legacy has been a dream come true."
"[Samit, Hernandez and Greenbaum] and I worship at the alter of all things Brooks and we are doing everything in our power alongside Mel to make sure you get what you’ve waited 37 long years for. EVERYTHING 🚀 #maytheschwartzbewithyou"
But Brooks' original left huge shoes to fill, and much of the original cast have either passed away (Candy and Rivers) or left the entertainment industry (Moranis).
And with Brooks only producing, a lot of fans weren't exactly happy about the beloved Spaceballs being tinkered with—especially by Gad.
For many fans, the one bright spot in the team is Greenbaum, whose previous directorial credits include the wonderfully ludicrous Kristen Wiig film Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar.
We hope this will be the one revival of a legendary movie that lives up to its original.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
