Highly Anticipated Spaceballs Sequel Unveils Full Cast With an Exciting Production Update

Spaceballs' original star is officially coming out of retirement for the long-awaited sequel — and fans couldn't be more excited about the news. After a long development, the sequel has received a massive production update.

Per Variety, original Spaceballs star Rick Moranis will be returning to the silver screen for the first time in more than two decades for the upcoming sequel. Moranis will be reprising his role as Dark Helmet along with fellow returning stars Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, George Wyner, and Mel Brooks in the roles of Lone Starr, Princess Vespa, Colonel Sandurtz, and Yogurt, respectively.

Directed by Mel Brooks from a screenplay co-written alongside Ronny Graham and Thomas Meenan, Spaceballs arrived in theaters in 1987 and immediately found a footing with audiences in search of the next great parody. Spaceballs sends up classic sci-fi franchises ranging from Star Wars to Alien to Planet of the Apes, not to mention a whole host of other popular titles in iconic Mel Brooks fashion. The film failed to make much of an impression upon critics at the time of its release, and only brought in $40.3 million at the box office against a budget of just under $23 million, yet Spaceballs had no trouble establishing itself as a comedy cult classic in the years that followed.

While fans of a Spaceballs sequel have floated around industry publications for more than a decade, it wasn't until 2024 that Spaceballs 2 was officially announced. Spaceballs 2 is set to be directed by Josh Greenbaumfrom a screenplay by Brooks, Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and incoming star Josh Gad.

Alongside Gad are several new additions to the Spaceballs franchise, namely Keke Palmer (Nope), Anthony Carrigan (Superman), and Lewis Pullman (Thunderbolts*), the latter of whom will be taking on the role of Lone Starr and Vespa's son, Starburst, since he is Bill Pullman's real-life son. Although details regarding the plot of Spaceballs 2 remain under wraps at this time, fans can almost assuredly look forward to the hottest sci-fi franchises of the past 20 years being lambasted throughout its runtime when the film arrives in 2027.

Amazon MGM Studios also teased in a press release that "the title is rumored to be the name of the movie, and plot details are being described as information about what happens in the story." A prior logline featured a very Brooks-esque humor, describing it as a "non-prequel non-reboot sequel part two but with reboot elements franchise expansion film."

How Spaceballs 2 Went from Pitch to Production According to Josh Gad

Back in January, Gad opened up about pitching Spaceballs 2 when talking to Brooks, noting that "When we were pitching him the original conceit for what we wanted to do with the film, at the beginning he goes, 'I'm just telling you now, I want you to really go into detail because I don't know a lot about the new Star Warsfilms."

The Frozen star recalled, "I'm sweating, I am getting into every line and every beat and every comedic set piece, every reveal. I'm painting all of it and I'm speaking to how this speaks to a certain Star Wars moment... Then there's silence and at the end of it, he goes, 'Wow. Josh, it really sounds like you've got your finger on the pulse!' [That was] the greatest compliment I could have ever gotten, even though there's no context for it for Mel. He really just trusted everything I had to say."

Spaceballs 2 is currently slated to arrive in theaters in 2027.