Mel Brooks has announced his personal involvement in a sequel to his Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs.
The 98-year-old comedy legend co-wrote, produced and directed the original 1987 satire. He is set to reprise his role as Yogurt, a parody of wise Star Wars character Yoda, in the upcoming Spaceballs 2, which is set for release in 2027.
Brooks made the announcement with a teaser clip posted to social media, which he captioned: “I told you we’d be back.”
In the style of the famous Star Wars opening scroll, a message reads: “Thirty-eight years ago, there was only one Star Wars trilogy…”
The message goes on to mention the huge amount of sequels and spin-offs released since then, including the films and television series set in the Stars Wars universe but also referencing Dune, Jurassic Park, Alien, Harry Potter and “36 MCU movies with two different Robert Downey Jr.’s.”
At the end of the scroll, Brooks appears in person wearing a sweater with the slogan: “SPACEBALLS THE SWEATSHIRT.”
He says: “After 40 years we asked what do the fans want… but instead, we’re making this movie.”
It was previously announced that Josh Gad will lead the cast of the sequel, which will be directed by Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar filmmaker Josh Greenbaum.
In his own social media message, Gad added: “I was that child who saw Spaceballs before I ever saw Star Wars and then wondered why anyone would do a dramatic remake of the Mel Brooks classic.
“It is therefore the greatest gift of my life to now help take the reins and work alongside Mel and this incredible group to do a sequel to the movie that first inspired George Lucas.”
The rest of the cast has not yet been officially announced, but Deadline reports that Rick Moranis is expected to come out of retirement to reprise his role as the villainous Dark Helmet.
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Moranis, one of the biggest comedy stars of the 1980s and 1990s, has not appeared in a live-action role in over 25 years.
The publication also reports that Bill Pullman will return as Lone Starr, the spoof’s equivalent of Han Solo, while Keke Palmer is set to join the cast in an as-yet-unspecified role.
Spaceballs 2 is being produced by Amazon MGM and will premiere in theaters. It has been jokingly dubbed by the studio as: “A Non-Prequel Non-Reboot Sequel Part Two but with Reboot Elements Franchise Expansion Film.”
