When your comedy legend boss hasn’t kept up with the franchise you’re trying to parody, sometimes you have to give a 40-minute presentation. Josh Gad recently revealed the unique challenge he faced while pitching the Spaceballs sequel to 98-year-old Mel Brooks: explaining decades of Star Wars lore to someone who hadn’t watched the newer films. During an appearance on Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa (via EW), Gad reveailed that Brooks told him that he didn’t “know a lot about the new Star Wars films” and thus, Gad had to explain them to him.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I pitch for 40 minutes. It’s literally like, I am a combat vet just going to war in front of one person,” Gad shared. “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.” Brooks’ response after the lengthy presentation? “Wow. Josh, it really sounds like you’ve got your finger on the pulse!”
The sequel, which Gad describes as “a love letter to not only Spaceballs, but to all things Mel Brooks,” is being developed at Amazon MGM Studios. He remained tight-lipped about further details, joking he might “get shot by Amazon Space Force” for revealing too much.
[RELATED: Angry Birds Movie 3 is Happening With Josh Gad and Jason Sudeikis]
The timing seems perfect for a new Spaceballs, as the original 1987 film only had the first Star Wars trilogy to parody. Since then, eight additional Star Wars movies and several TV shows have provided plenty of new material. The sequel might even parody the “legacy sequel” format popularized by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Josh Greenbaum, who directed Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar and the recent Will Ferrell documentary Will & Harper, will helm the project. His Star Wars connection includes directing Behind the Mac: Skywalker Sound, a short documentary about the franchise’s sound designers. Gad co-wrote the screenplay with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, who recently wrote Star Wars LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy for Disney+. The writing duo previously collaborated with Gad on 1600 Penn, Central Park, and also penned Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
The 1987 original featured Bill Pullman and John Candy as for-hire pilots Lone Starr and Barf, alongside Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, Joan Rivers as robot Dot Matrix, Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet, and Brooks himself as both President Skroob and Yogurt. This isn’t Gad’s first attempt at reviving a Rick Moranis property – he previously worked on a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids follow-up that stalled in development. However, this marks his second collaboration with Brooks, following his appearance in History of the World Part II on Hulu.
While no release date has been announced, the film could potentially arrive in 2025 if production begins soon. Fans speculate the title might follow Yogurt’s prophecy from the original film: Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money, though Spaceballs: The Schwartz Awakens has also been suggested as a possibility.
“The process of working on this with and alongside Mel Brooks has been one of the highlights of my career,” Gad said previously, proving that sometimes explaining the obvious to a legend can lead to something special.
