According to a report from Variety, a sequel to the hit 1987 film Spaceballs is currently in development.
Soon-to-be 98-year-old Mel Brooks will be associated with this project reportedly as a producer. In the original film, Brooks served as the writer and director. The film is said to be tied to Amazon MGM Studios. Josh Greenbaum is being pegged as the director, whereas the team of Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, and Josh Gad are said to be behind the script.
Speaking of Gad, the report also indicates that he will indeed feature in the film as an actor.
Gad’s career has been impressive when analyzing the totality of his work. Aside from working on Broadway, he’s also featured as a voice-over actor, a starring lead, and most recently as a director.
It will be fascinating to see how involved Brooks is with this project. While we won’t see a few of the original actors from the first film (John Candy, Dick Van Patten, Joan Rivers), it would be fun to see the likes of Daphne Zuniga, Bill Pullman, George Wyner, and Rick Moranis reprise their roles in some capacity.
This proposed sequel is yet another revival in the Hollywood scene. Over the last decade or so, we’ve seen a plethora of sequels following films that many viewed as one-off entities. With the original movie being nearly 40 years old — coupled with the reverence it still holds — it’s not overly shocking to see a refreshing of this classic.