As we recount the incredible sights and sounds we experienced at Comic-Con this year, one of the biggest highlights to grace Hall H was the panel for Spaceballs: The New One! Perhaps it didn’t have Ryans Gosling or Reynolds, but it had Rick Friggin’ Moranis and an ass-whole lot of laughs!
Following in the “vootshtaps” of the incredible Mel Brooks is by far one of the most daunting tasks any comedian could ever partake in. The panel was moderated by Comic-Con royalty, Kevin Smith, and included an amazing assortment of modern and all-time legends, including writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, director Josh Greenbaum, star and co-writer Josh Gad, stars Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman, and the incomparable returning comedy icons Daphne Zuniga and Moranis, coming out of an extended on-screen hiatus after stepping back in 1997.
It signified not only something historic for Hall H, with this being Moranis’ first time at the convention, but also an incredible outpouring of love for Brooks, who just turned 100 this year, and proof that Gad, Hernandez, Samit, and Greenbaum came ready to play and win in terms of creating a worthy follow up to Brooks’ original 1987 comedy classic.
To kick things off, Smith started by bringing out the cast and creatives on stage, except for Rick Moranis. Calling for Moranis several times, to no avail, Smith ordered for everyone to comb the audience. After a few false starts, the team managed to “find” the real Moranis, who went up to the stage to a standing ovation. It was both funny, emotional, and well deserved for the comedy legend.
The first question was geared up for co-writer Gad, who essentially was the driving force bringing everyone together to make the film. Smith asked about the origins of bringing Spaceballs: The New One to life. He discussed watching the first movie with his daughter. “[My daughter] goes, ‘Can we watch Part 2?’ And I said, ‘There is no Part 2. And she goes, ‘Yeah, the weird little alien guy said that there’s going to be a Part 2.’ And I said, ‘Sweetie, that’s called a joke.’… And she goes, ‘Well, why isn’t there a Part 2?’ And I was like, ‘That is a really good question.’ And I went to bed that night. And… I’ve told this story before, but I literally had a dream of what I thought the movie should be. And I don’t know what gave me the balls to do this, but I called up Mel Brooks and his producing partner Kevin Salter… And I did the most intense 40-minute pitch of this movie, and he’s just silently listening. This is in 2022, and at the end of it, he goes, ‘Josh, it sounds like you really got your finger on the pulse. I don’t know half of what you’re talking about, but I really like it.’ … And so I told him, ‘If I’m going to do this, I want to put together an all-star team.’ Every great Mel Brooks movie is written in collaboration, and so I knew I didn’t want to write it alone. And Dan Hernandez, who I went to school with, and his buddy Benji Samit, both met at Brown; two of the funniest human beings I’ve ever met in my life. So I called them up and I said, ‘You guys are Jews. Would you ever want to do a Spaceballs movie?… And then I had seen Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and it was one of those like, ‘Holy cow, who’s the guy who did this movie?’ And then Josh [Greenbaum] called me up during COVID to ask me to do a cameo in the craziest movie called Strays, and I had the best time with him. And what I loved was he was brilliant at filmmaking, hilariously funny, but he brought pathos. And my favorite Mel Brooks movies all have that. They have incredible storytelling, and they’re just funny and well shot.”
Greenbaum added, “Josh goes, ‘Are you a fan of Mel Brooks?’ Which I was like, ‘What? This is the dumbest question anyone has ever asked!'”
“Yeah, I had to test you,” added Gad. “There was a chance you’d say ‘No.’ In which case I couldn’t have hired you. So we then all collectively got on the phone with Mel and pitched him.”
Hernandez stated, “I just have to say, Benji and I are comedy writers. And let me tell you, what is not fun is pitching to the literally funniest person who has ever lived. So you’re pitching, and you’re going, ‘Okay, it’s kind of quiet.’ There’s 15 more minutes of this. ‘What’s gonna happen here?’ But then he loved it! And he was so happy. And you know, we were hesitant at first about how you even step into those shoes… But then I’m talking to Mel, and he really understood. Like he’s been wanting to make this movie for so many years, and has been trying so hard. And he really liked what we had to say about it. And he wanted to do it. And you know, when Mel is like, ‘Hey, I want you guys to write this movie,’ then you say ‘Yes.'”
Smith then asked Moranis a question about how Gad got him to join the cast. “I had to say yes to this thing. It was the only way I could get Josh Gad to stop texting me. Actually, I started talking to Mel about a sequel in 1989, and we kept talking about it. I really wasn’t retired. I was just negotiating. Playing hardball,” Moranis joked. “This came along right at the right time, and I started talking to these folks and hearing who was going to be in it. And I spoke to Josh Greenbaum, and I heard that Bill Pullman was coming back, and that Lewis was going to be in it too. And it just felt like this is it. This is this. It’s time, and I said yes. And it is the best decision I’ve ever made. It was a family thing.”
Zuniga, returning to the role of Princess Vespa (now Queen Vespa in this installment), discussed how it wasn’t surprising for her that the film took almost 40 years to get off the ground. “All right, so I am the one person in this room who’s not surprised it took this long,” she began. “I want to tell you a little story. I auditioned for Mel [in 1980]. It went really well. He said, ‘Oh, you’re a princess. You’re my princess. You’re perfect!’ So then I left the studio. And I’m this young actress, all excited. I tell my agents, ‘Oh my God! I think I got it. He said I’m perfect.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we haven’t heard anything. You don’t have an offer.’ So now I’m all nervous. I’m like, ‘What happened?’ And then we get a call from Mel, and he says, ‘I want you to come down and see the set.’ So I go down to MGM… and he shows me the princess car — the Mercedes — and he’s like, ‘Look, isn’t this great? This is your car.’ And I’m like, ‘I think I have the part. I think I have the part.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s my car?’ And he goes, ‘This is your costumer, Don Feld.’ And he showed me this beautiful wardrobe, with this corset and this cleavage. And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, Don.’ He goes, ‘Don’t worry, honey. I can get a two by four cleavage.’… So, I tell my agent, ‘I have the part.’ And they’re like, ‘No, you don’t have the part.’ It took [Mel] over a month to give me the freaking part. So I’m not surprised it took 39 years [to make a sequel].”
On the new cast, Gad was asked about getting Palmer added to the film as a new character. “I did a mock poster when we were pitching the movie to Amazon,” stated Gad. “And the person we put on the poster was Keke Palmer. And we said, ‘This will never happen, but this is who we’re imagining.’ So when we finally sent her the script and she said ‘Yes,’ it really was kismet.”
Palmer added, “Well, Jeb, one of the producers, he works on my TV show, The Burbs [Jeb Brody]… said they had spies on set when they sent me this script. And they kept being like, ‘She laughed at this joke. She laughed at this joke. She can’t stop talking. She’s telling her assistant how good it is. How it was so funny!'”
Smith also asked Pullman about what it was like to step into a film series that launched the career of his own father, and how it felt to fill his father’s shoes. “I was like, ‘these are shoes that are unfillable,'” began Pullman. “I grew up watching this movie. I watched it before I watched Star Wars. When I watched Star Wars, I was like, ‘Why did they remake Spaceballs without all the humor?’ And so when this came along, I was like, ‘No. No way. I can’t.’ And then Pop [Bill Pullman] was like, ‘Well, read it.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’m just honestly going to read it.’ And then I read it. I was like, ‘Damn it, this is so good.’… once I read it, I was like, ‘This is one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read.’ I was laughing out loud. I rarely laugh out loud when I’m reading scripts. And then I looked at the team, and I was like, ‘I would be a fool… if I didn’t do it. And I would be on my deathbed and be like, that was a weird choice.”
Speaking of Pullman’s father, the incredible Bill Pullman (reprising his role as Lone Star) was unable to make it to the panel, as filming commitments in Europe prevented him from participating. He sent a hilarious video message claiming to be in the UK to search for a “rare Charizard card,” then handed it over to his son to read a letter he wrote for the panel. Lewis read the note verbatim: “Sorry I can’t be here with you all, but I wanted to take a second to tell you why this movie was maybe the most special experience of my life: Family. After all, family is everything…. When I say family, I use the term loosely to describe Rick, George, and Daphne, who have been like family to me since 1987. But then there’s new family like Kiki, Dan, and Benji, Josh Greenbaum, and the guy from Barry, and my son from the 2012 NBC series 1600 Pen, Josh Gad… And finally, there’s real family. Josh Gad’s father, Stan, who came and visited us on set. He and Josh were beautiful together. We had such a great time with your dad… I would look at Stan and say to myself one day, I hope to have a son like Josh. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Lewis’s hair and makeup team, who I grew incredibly close to because they would shave me and do my hair. And obviously, Lewis’s agent, who sent me the most beautiful stark gift; a candle that smells like 16th-century Scotland. Okay, nothing beats family, and one day I hope I’m lucky enough to have a real family like the one I made on Spaceballs. Also, Lewis, don’t forget to pay Mom back for the cell phone bill we covered in Australia.”
The whole note was hilarious. But the laughs did not stop there. Greenbaum, Gad, Hernandez, and Samit couldn’t resist having a bit of fun in Hall H at the expense of Marvel Studios, parodying one of Kevin Feige’s trademark Phase announcements, by unveiling the Almighty Schwartz Saga (A.S.S). They then proceeded to throw up meaningless graphics of the various phases of the would-be Spaceballs films making up the A.S.S, and the appropriate viewing order in which to watch everything. It was nonsensical, messy, and brilliantly side-splitting.
“We’re actually very excited right here in Hall H, to announce that this is just the beginning of our plans for a Spaceballs cinematic universe,” Greenbaum joked. “That’s just Phase One. We got Phase Two… Phase Three is coming up, and this is all part of a three-phase saga that we call the “Almighty Schwartz Saga.” A.S.S. This is just part of a bigger cinematic universe: “The A.S.S Whole.” Yeah, take a look over there. We have enough content until 2048…”
It was overall a completely hilarious experience just being able to be in the room with Gad, Greenbaum, and the cast of legends, including revered comedy icon, Moranis. Spaceballs has always been one of the most witty and hysterical comedies of all time. Living up to the legacy of the iconic Mel Brooks may be intimidating. But after seeing how this team of assholes is handling Spaceballs: The New One, I’d say the Schwartz is in remarkably good hands!
Spaceballs: The New One hits theaters April 23, 2027!
