Recently, while loping around my local shopping center – you know those places we used to go before someone coughed a few times somewhere and now avoid at every chance – I stumbled across a rare find. It was a Blu-ray copy of the Mel Brooks 1987 comedy film Spaceballs to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Needless to say, I bought it without a second thought and watched it that very night. Why I hear you ask? Well, because it’s Mel Brooks, you dummy. It’s irreverent to a fault, its humour stands the test of time (for the most part), and it’s endlessly creative in its satirisation of everything from Star Trek teleporters to luggage lock combinations.
It also smashes the fourth wall every chance it gets. From having their stunt doubles captured to watching the movie while they’re making the movie to showing where the real money from movies is made (Merchandising), the movie takes a piss at every available opportunity.
One line in this movie really got me thinking. It’s right when Not Han Solo is about to leave Not Tatooine when he asks Not Yoda if they’ll ever meet again.
His response? “Who knows? God Willing, we’ll all meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money.”
Immediately, I began scouring the internet for any mention of this sequel. It turns out the sequel has had a long-troubled road of being kicked around as brainstorming ideas and nothing more, really.
The reasons why are pretty clear. For one, John Candy, Joan Rivers, and Dom Deluise have all stepped off this mortal coil, which knocks Barf, Dot Matrix, and Pizza the Hut out of contention unless they use stunt doubles.
Another issue is that Rick Moranis is out of the public spotlight and hasn’t acted since the 90s, aside from some small voiceover and indie work here and there. He also hasn’t shown much interest in returning for another Spaceballs film.
So, we’ve got the following: interest from the creator and… that’s about it. There is no cast signing on, no script in the works, and just the vague hope of someday.
To be honest, they could make a new Spaceballs sequel with a new fresh-faced unknown cast and take the piss out of franchises like the MCU and Star Wars Sequel Trilogy because they could stand to take themselves a little less seriously. Like Cthulhu, Mel Brooks will return one day to deliver us into a new promised land of satire and humour unseen since the time of the great and glorious Monty Python.
Until then, I guess we’ve just got to wait and see what comes up and enjoy Mel Brooks’ existing works. I, for one, can’t wait until then becomes now.
