Spaceballs Sequel En Route

 

Spaceballs is getting a sequel - 40 years later.

In late June 1987, I went to the Showplace 6 with a pal or two for a weekday matinee of Spaceballs.  And by the time Spaceball 1 finished passing by the camera, I was laughing so hard I was crying.  And I think it let up sometime about a week later when I quit saying "Lonestaaaaar...!" to myself.  And "because 'good' is dumb."

Since, it's probably my most-watched Mel Brooks movie alongside Blazing Saddles.  I mean, I was twelve.  I loved Star Wars and silliness.  

Everyone in the cast was on fire during that movie.  It made me a fan of Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga, I already thought John Candy and Rick Moranis were two of the funniest people on Earth, and it gave me respect for Joan Rivers, George Wyner and Mel Brooks.  Heck, it's the first time I ever saw generally-all-around-good-idea Brenda Strong.

In college, I got a Sharpie and wrote "Mr. Radar" on my "Mr. Coffee" individual coffee pot.  And, for my birthday Freshman year, we rented Spaceballs and watched it in the dorms.

It's just one of the greats in my book, and quotes from it fill my head as much as any other Mel Brooks movie.  "They've gone to plaid...!" is something I'll still say in my head when someone whips past me on the freeway.  When waiting for things to finish, I still whisper "come on, Schwartz...!"

Mel Brooks is 99 and has retained everything.  How involved he is with this new version, I don't know. He's involved, though.  Imagine having a career so long a movie you made in the 1980's is getting a sequel with the very grown child of  one of the original stars.  Yeah, Lewis Pullman is in this.

Will it be good?  I am sure.  Is it a little sad we've lost John Candy and Joan Rivers in the interim?  Absolutely.  But I think we can still have a great movie with new characters.  And, hey, we have so many more Star Wars movies and TV shows to spoof. Plus 40 more years of other sci-fi.

how *you* doin', Princess Vespa?

It's for the best Spaceballs didn't suffer the fate of so many 80's comedies that tried for sequels at the time - it was always diminishing returns.  But I'm glad we can take a new swing.  

And, hey, if I can have Zuniga *and* Rick Moranis back?  That's a very good thing.