After decades of speculation, Mel Brooks is returning to make Spaceballs 2, and there are already a ton of exciting updates about the long-awaited comedy sequel. The original Spaceballs is writer/director Mel Brooks' parody of Star Wars and features Bill Pullman as the Han Solo-esque Lone Starr, John Candy as his sidekick Barf, and Rick Moranis as the villainous Dark Helmet. While the film was only a moderate success upon release, it soon became a cult hit thanks to its pitch-perfect sendup of the original Star Wars trilogy, picking apart its commercialism and silly sci-fi tropes.

Spaceballs itself teases a sequel dubbed Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money, but while fans hoped for a follow-up for over 3 decades, little news ever materialized. However, with director Mel Brooks returning for his TV series, History of the World, Part Two in 2023, hope was reignited that the comedy maven would make a sequel to his prescient sci-fi parody. With the Star Wars franchise continuing to balloon and prove Brooks' sharp barbs correct, the time was ripe to announce that Spaceballs 2 is officially in the works.

Spaceballs 2 Latest News

Josh Gad Explains The Franchise Lore

With work proceeding behind-the-scenes on the parody sequel, the latest news comes directly from Josh Gad regarding Spaceballs 2. In an interview with Kelly Rippa on her podcast Let's Talk Off Camera, Gad revealed just how involved Mel Brooks is in the development of the sequel story, and how it will spoof more recent Star Wars lore. While telling an amusing anecdote about laying out 38 years of Star Wars for the comic icon, Gad slyly revealed that it will likely poke fun at the Disney era of the science fiction franchise.

Read Gad's comments here:

Mel is incredibly involved. I’ll share a funny story that I haven’t yet shared. 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 Wars' films." And I said, "Okay."

It’s literally like, I am a combat vet just going to war in front of one person. 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.

Spaceballs 2 Is Confirmed

Mel Brooks Is Teaming Up With Amazon MGM

Though Brooks won't be directing the long-awaited sci-fi parody sequel, the comedy icon has been brought on as a producer

In an update that many fans thought would never actually happen, Amazon MGM announced in June 2024 that they had green-lit the development of Spaceballs 2. What's more, the studio is collaborating with original director Mel Brooks to bring the sequel to life. Though Brooks won't be directing the long-awaited sci-fi parody sequel, the comedy icon has been brought on as a producer. Instead, the directing duties went to Josh Greenbaum who helmed 2023's raunchy comedy Strays.

It's important to note that Brooks isn't writing the movie, and the screenplay is instead penned by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and new star Josh Gad. Samit is noted for his family-friendly comedy scripts, and he famously wrote Pokémon Detective Pikachu, The Addams Family 2, and 2023's smash-hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Little is known about the movie in of plot, and the role that Gad will be playing hasn't been revealed yet. No timeline has been provided, but Gad revealed in November 2024 that the script was completed.

Spaceballs 2 Cast

Josh Gad Will Star In The Parody Sequel

Almost nothing is known about Spaceballs 2, but it has been confirmed that Frozen's Josh Gad will pull double duty as a writer and star in the sci-fi parody. No role has been assigned for Gad yet, but it's assumed that the multi-talented actor will play a lead part. It's also unclear if any of the movie's original stars will return, though there are a few cast like John Candy and Joan Rivers who have sadly ed away since the first movie debuted.

A poorly-received animated series, Spaceballs: The Animated Series, was released in 2008.

Cast like Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, and Rick Moranis could theoretically return to reprise their roles, though the latter has largely retired from acting for the past few decades. One nearly certain return is that of Mel Brooks who famously played the role of Yogurt, a money-obsessed parody of Yoda who oversees the merchandising of the movie-within-a-movie, Spaceballs. With Star Wars becoming even more commercialized since the first Spaceballs movie, Yogurt has to return to skewer the franchise once again.

Spaceballs 2 Story Details

No Story Details Are Known Yet

the actual story of Spaceballs 2 is unimportant, and will only serve as a backdrop for the stinging barbs.

Though Amazon MGM hasn't released any story details about their sequel to Spaceballs, it isn't hard to imagine where the sci-fi parody could go. Since the original debuted in 1987, there has been a slew of Star Wars movies, some of which have been far from perfect. Spaceballs 2 will almost certainly make fun of Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and characters like Yogurt will have a lot more to do, especially with characters like Baby Yoda and their unbelievable commercial potential. Otherwise, the actual story of Spaceballs 2 is unimportant, and will only serve as a backdrop for the stinging barbs.