Mel Brooks is Making 'Spaceballs 2' After 38 Years (ign.com) 127
"Spaceballs 2" is officially in development nearly 40 years after the original parody hit theaters. The sequel, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and set for a 2027 release, will see Rick Moranis returning as Dark Helmet, Mel Brooks reprising his role as Yogurt, and Bill Pullman returning as Lone Starr. You can watch the teaser trailer on YouTube. IGN reports: A trailer for the sequel to the classic '80s sci-fi Star Wars parody arrived today. Although it mostly comes with a special message from Brooks himself and a familiar text crawl that pokes fun at the long, long list of sequels that have come to theaters in the last 38 years, this is the most official look at Spaceballs 2 we've seen yet.
"After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' Brooks says in the Spaceballs 2 trailer. "But instead, we're making this movie." He added one final send-off: "May the Schwartz be with you."
"After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' Brooks says in the Spaceballs 2 trailer. "But instead, we're making this movie." He added one final send-off: "May the Schwartz be with you."
Finally! (Score:5, Informative)
Finally a movie that could be worth watching.
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
"kind of slapstic and risque humour that Spaceballs depends on doesn't work any more with modern audiences."
yes it does - your watching unfunny shit movies then
Re: (Score:3)
On top of that, Mel Brooks' immense talent specializes in Jewish themed comedy, and the political climate will not do him no favours. History of the World Part I was great, though.
Aww, I was getting excited for Jews in space.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm still waiting to see Hitler on Ice.....
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
I'm still waiting to see Hitler on Ice.....
Have you tried Springtime for Hitler?
Re: (Score:2)
Try ‘Look Who’s Back”.
You can’t say Germans don’t have a sense of humour after watching that movie
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Finally! (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure that Spaceballs *was* Jews in Space.
Re: Finally! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Aww, I was getting excited for Jews in space.
Indeed, someone has to man/maintain those lasers MTG rants about. :-)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
The only one I can think of is John Candy (which is a big hole), but Rick Moranis has been retired for many years now, and he's rebuffed most attempts to get him in front of a camera again.
Re: (Score:2)
Getting rick back is a major thing.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Finally! (Score:4, Funny)
ARE already set. Serves me right for posting before coffee.
King, it's 2025. Just blame it on autocorrect, like everyone else.
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Ironically I had to edit my post to make the joke work because the text to speech kept correcting it.
Re: (Score:2)
Getting rick back is a major thing.
Rick Moranis has consistently turned down all the Ghostbusters sequels.
Re: (Score:3)
The only one I can think of is John Candy (which is a big hole), but Rick Moranis has been retired for many years now, and he's rebuffed most attempts to get him in front of a camera again.
Rick Moranis left acting because his wife passed and he needed to raise his kids, [soapcentral.com] and was actually going to have a role in the, "Honey I Shrunk the Kids," reboot.
Re: (Score:3)
You forgot Joan Rivers.
Re: (Score:2)
You're making the assumption from the wrong perspective. I suspect this movie won't be popular and will fail at the box office. I however suspect that it will be the same this time around. Mel Brookes as writer and producer is still making slapstick and risque humour, it just isn't rated very highly today.
Re: (Score:2)
The kind of slapstic and risque humour that Spaceballs depends on doesn't work any more with modern audiences
This would be a valid point if there was such a thing as "the modern audience". It doesn't exist though and never has. What you have instead are various demographics, such as "young children", "40-60 year old males", "15-25 year old females" etc etc, however you decide to measure them, which tend to prefer different things. Amongst these demographics is "old farts who have seen the original and liked it, and/or are somewhat nostalgic for that time", which may or may not be large enough to make this movie pr
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Interesting)
There's all these people who think you couldn't do blazing saddles today because they didn't understand blazing saddles.
Blazing saddles was the moment I fully understood what racism was. Not all the parts about the black sheriff. That wasn't what did it. It was right at the end when the guy says "okay we will give some land to the n**** and the c***s but we don't want the Irish!"
Notice I bleeped out the slurs but the movie didn't? That's something called context. In the context of the movie it's a okay to hear those things said. In the context of my dumb post I'm not comfortable writing them out.
And that's why all the humor that the right wing thinks us left wingers are going to freak out about isn't even going to make us blink.
All that said I can't imagine Mel Brooks at his age can do much more but put his name on it. And I just don't think anyone is really good at that humor anymore. The Wayans brothers try but they just kind of blow it completely. I will give them credit for trying though. And Hollywood is so full of nepo babies that it's rare anything good can come out of it.
Everyone keeps blaming woke for bad movies and not all the freaking nepotism. The fact that good writers don't get a chance because they're not some rich assholes son. So Ben Shapiro gets to write and direct movies worth millions but we're not going to get another judge dredd movie.
and no I don't mean with Sylvester stallone. If you don't know which dreadd movie I meant you're part of the problem...
Re: (Score:2)
History of the World Part 2 on the other hand sucked donkey balls.
Re: (Score:2)
It certainly does, we just have the internet now so the 1% of people who think they dictate society will be very loud and you'll hear them since 99% of us just either watched the movie and laughed, or just that it was okay or whatever, and never posted it to the internet in outrage.
Re: (Score:3)
Meanwhile as someone else has already said under this article elsewhere, Brookes has always been "woke". Pushing leftist social issues and supporting minorities in his movies was the norm for him.
Re: (Score:3)
I keep hearing this "X has always been woke" and I wonder if this is gaslighting or if people saying this geniunely have this totally black and white view of the world. For, I'd say, most people out there, there are shades of grey with respect to the amount of "messaging" in a given work of entertainment, and those make a lot of difference.
The best entertainment has no deliberate metaphors outside of the setting. Like Tolkien said back in the day, I don't remember the quote, but, applicability over metaphor
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Insightful)
Blazing Saddles was absolutely packed with the "woke" messaging of its era. You might remember it or think of it differently because anti racism has been more normalized and the focus has moved on to other groups but that whole movie was one big fuck you to racists. It was in fact very preachy. It was also very funny and just a damn good movie so no one minded.
His gay characters were also very progressive for the era he was making most of his movies in and that's a big deal considering how looked down they were by the mainstream back then.
Brookes is an old school Jewish social (as apposed to socialist, I dont know where he is economically speaking) leftist. They saw what the Nazis did to them and decided they not only did they not like that happening to themselves but didnt care for it to happen to anybody else. This follows through to today where American Jews are disproportionally on the left.
Hollywood has always had tons of "woke" content in it pushing left wing social agendas. The difference between decades ago and now is when a movie was bad back then people rightfully blamed bad acting, directing or writing and not modern culture war nonsense.
Re: (Score:2)
Blazing Saddles was absolutely packed with the "woke" messaging of its era.”
Not quite. Blazing Saddles undeniably leaned hard into blind justice and free speech, yes. But these were quite popular then among the right AND the left. After all Republicans allied with the civil rights movement of the time based on this exact same philosophy, ultimately together forcing northern democrats to break the hundred year long Faustian power sharing bargain with segregationist democrats.
And these same ideals are the opposite of woke today - which calls both ideals “fascist”, replaci
Re: (Score:2)
Youre mistaking party for ideology and that doesn't hold well at all for the times you're bringing up There was an ongoing political party realignment happening during the civil rights movement and those Republican districts that went pro civil rights are almost all Democrats now. Likewise the Democratic ones that voted against are almost all Republican.
As for the rest, I don't see your interpretation representative of the reality I see when I look around. Plus, for every leftist referring to a right winger
Re: (Score:3)
Hey, explain to me why Republicans always try to white wash their bigotry by claiming things that their modern base had nothing to do with like voting for proper civil rights for racial minorities or even claiming Lincolns mantel when the core of their base are made up of the secessionist states and he's the one that had to bring them to heel.
I mean, it really cracks me up how often modern Republicans are aware of the historic fact that some Republican districts voted for the civil rights act but seem compl
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry for these second posts but "free speech is violence"? Where do you come up with this shit? Probably right wing talking heads I'd guess.
Re: (Score:2)
I did, first two pages on Google didnt have it. Like I just told you, all you're doing is telling me what your favorite right wing talking head told you to think. I live in one of the bluest parts of the country, no one fucking says this, no one advocates this.
And no, I don't care about your fringe intellectuals that you'll claim till you're dead are super indicative of what everyone on the left thinks.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, I didn't finish addressing your last point.
The problem isnt that anything has changed in terms of Hollywood pushing social agendas. The "problem" is that the social messaging changes as progress is made and the world changes. Meanwhile as people get older they often become entrench in their ways and become more conservative and don't like this change. Add on to this a current hyper sensitivity to anything socially on the Left thanks to this idiot culture war conservatives are running and we get peopl
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah this sounds fun.
Honestly, I thought old Mel had passed away. So, it's a bit of a delight to hear that at 98 he's still going strong and directing films. Though, we'd definitely hope this one doesn't get stuck in development hell. Even optimistically, he wouldn't have much time left.
Re: Finally! (Score:3)
He'll have to fight it out with Clint Eastwood on being oldest film maker.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not so sure (Score:1)
With the best will in the world, most talented people peak in their 20s and 30s then slowly lose their creative talent as they get older whether they're musicians, writers, scientists, inventors etc. We can all name bands who nailed it back in the day but can't write a decent album to save their lives any more (Hello Metallica) and comedy is no different. Which is why stand ups generally pack it in in their 40s, the edge has gone.
I hate to say it but I think Brooks is well past his best now and this film wi
Re: (Score:2)
[citation needed]
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:2)
[All of human history]
Unless you're one of those who thinks that at 50, with your bad back, weak knees, failing eyesight, constant aches and pains, forgetfulness and afternoon naps, you're somehow better than at 20?
This is called Middle Aged Delusional Syndrome.
Re: (Score:2)
King of One-Liners | Andy Huggins | Stand Up Comedy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:4, Insightful)
[All of human history] Unless you're one of those who thinks that at 50, with your bad back, weak knees, failing eyesight, constant aches and pains, forgetfulness and afternoon naps, you're somehow better than at 20?
This is called Middle Aged Delusional Syndrome.
You have a weird belief system, that expressed itself as bigotry and prejudice against those old people you call delusional.
I'm back at work now because my intellectual capacity is well beyond the presumptive superior young people that you think aren't delusional that I replaced.
No, I'm not what I was at 20 in matters of physicality. But I've seen a lot of delusional people who believe that by virtue of their youth, were somehow superior. Then they fall flat on their face when the people they think are at deaths door and demented show them what competence looks like, It's called ageism, and it is one of the prejudices - just like ageism, sexism, and racism.
My knees hurt. I have a lot of old Ice Hockey injuries that remind me of their presence every day. You'll probably beat me in the 100 meter dash. Might be a little more difficult for you in matters requiring intellect and focus.
Just a bit of grandfatherly advice. Those old people you deride are probably a lot more competent you think. To claim otherwise is a way to look a little bigoted
Re: (Score:3)
You have a weird belief system, that expressed itself as bigotry and prejudice against those old people you call delusional.
Hahaha. Now I'm not saying they're right but this is rich coming from some one who by their own account hates all vegans because they have a vegan coworker they don't like and is bigoted against trans people. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black pal.
Doesn't feel good when you're in the target group does it!?
Re: (Score:2)
I hate to say it but I think Brooks is well past his best now and this film will almost certainly be a dud. Hope I'm wrong however.
Brooks was a spry young lad of 60 when he made Spaceballs 1...
Re: (Score:2)
We get it, some people have a sense of humour, and you don't. No need to be bitter about it.
Re: (Score:3)
With the best will in the world, most talented people peak in their 20s and 30s then slowly lose their creative talent as they get older whether they're musicians, writers, scientists, inventors etc. We can all name bands who nailed it back in the day but can't write a decent album to save their lives any more (Hello Metallica) and comedy is no different. Which is why stand ups generally pack it in in their 40s, the edge has gone.
I hate to say it but I think Brooks is well past his best now and this film will almost certainly be a dud. Hope I'm wrong however.
If the crop of people who can make movies like the live action Snow White reboot are at the top of their game now, and only go downhill from here, the movie industry will be dead in a couple years.
I watched a Mel Brooks stand up he did maybe 5 years ago, for someone half a century past his prime, ha had it all over in their prime comedians like Amy Schumer, who is busy telling us how her vajajay smells.
You are rather ageist you know.
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:2)
I'm in my 50s myself so hardly ageist, just realist. Sure, some of people my age and older are still rocking it creatively, but they're the small exception, not the rule.
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:5, Insightful)
The Producers? Young Frankenstein? Blazing Saddles? High Anxiety?
I'm not sure there's a funnier scene in any movie ever made in history than Springtime For Hitler (the reaction shots in that scene are the best I've ever seen in a movie), with the possible exception of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster doing a song and dance number to Putting On The Ritz.
For me, at least, Mel Brooks is probably the pinnacle of comedy filmmaking.
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:2)
It's highly stylized and inauthentic. Doesn't land for me.
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:2)
Why would that make or break my opinion for you?
How about Ruthless People?
Re: (Score:2)
Why would that make or break my opinion for you?
How about Ruthless People?
That's the thing about comedy, different people like different things. What I think is funny might not be what you think is funny, and the same in reverse.
Some movies that bored me were the "Home Alone" movies, "Look Who's Talking" movies, that were quite popular at the time. I'm not going to tell them it was derivative, utterly predictable, and only good for maybe one chuckle.
Re: I'm not so sure (Score:4, Funny)
don't hold out on us, tell what you think is a good comedy
Probably Amy Schumer.
When Amy was a little girl, she told everyone she wanted to be a comedian, and they laughed at her.
No one is laughing any more.
Re: (Score:3)
(... are the best I've ever seen in a movie), with the possible exception of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster doing a song and dance number to Putting On The Ritz.
Gene Wilder wrote that scene and had to argue with Brooks (supposedly their only argument) to get it in the movie.
Re: (Score:2)
Hang on. The trailer states only in theatres at the end, which means..
Spaceballs 2: The Musical
Re: (Score:2)
It was supposed to be "Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money"
Re: (Score:2)
Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money.
Given that most of the original cast is now retired, dead or pretty close to it, We'll see if Brooks still has what it makes to make a good film with fresh talent.
Re: (Score:2)
Mel Brooks is on this list of the top 50 richest comedians [celebritynetworth.com] with an estimated net worth of $100 million. I don't know how reliable that estimate is, but it certainly flies in the face of any claim that he is broke.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure he will work hard to prove you wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
And it's a sequel.
(Everyone who complains about nothing Hollywood puts out is worth watching complains about the sequels, prequels, remakes and such...).
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe. Its animated TV spinoff wasn't good. History of the World, Part I's TV sequel wasn't good too. :(
What about the Disney parodies? (Score:2)
Seems to me there were plenty of parodies made by Disney in recent years!
Spaceballs 2 (Score:2)
Spaceballs: Full Self Flight - Supervised
Spaceballs: BrainLink
sAI - Spaceballs: The AI
Spaceballs: The Crypto Scam
Re: (Score:2)
To everyone out there... (Score:2)
...who is looking forward to this: Chapeau! I'd love to have your optimism!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately Mel Brooks is 98. He's not gonna be around for long. Statistically it'll be a minor miracle if he makes it 3 more years. If he lives long enough to finish this, it'll almost certainly be his swansong.
Re:To everyone out there... (Score:4, Interesting)
Spaceballs sits nicely between cannon built around elders coming back in shimmering blue and parody based on over-commercialization removing the soul of entertainment. I sincerely hope they are getting their AI version of Mel Brooks ready because finishing his movie in the event he dies by "recasting" a crappy AI version of him for the scenes he couldn't film sounds like parody gold to me.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not sure he'll find a company to finance and distribute a parody of the current Zeitgeist.
A parody of bad writing itself won't be all that riveting, I fear.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not like the writing in the original Star Wars film was all that great. Guiness's dialogue was cheesy enough that he begged Lucas to kill his character off (and Lucas, to his credit, found a way to get Guiness into two more films).
But if I were making fun of the third trilogy at this point, it wouldn't be so much about the bad writing (though in general it's bloody awful), but the almost complete lack of any kind of plotting.
Re: (Score:2)
Right in the summary, Amazon MGM, it's easier today to get a production financed than really any other time in history.
Re: To everyone out there... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh yeah, I remember that scene in "Spaceballs" where they fast-forwarded to 1989 so they could watch "When Harry Met Sally" two years before it actually came out. It was weird.
Re: (Score:2)
Have some of my optimism: Mel Brookes isn't known for bowing down to studio pressure and trends of the day. He still makes the same parody slapstick humour as he has done in the past. There's no reason to believe if you didn't love the original that the next one won't be as good given who is producing it.
That said there's every reason to believe it won't rank nearly as highly in audience reviews. The modern audience doesn't quite follow the same sense of humour.
Re: (Score:2)
The thing is many a beloved Hollywood personality has caught a whiff of the Hollywood illness in the past.
I've been disappointed often enough.
My approach is wait and see if the Critical Drinker feels like vomitting after the movie or not.
Re: (Score:2)
I make decisions for myself instead of waiting for feigned outrage from YouTube personalities.
And I bet (Score:2)
It will be better than episode IX
Re: And I bet (Score:3)
If the gag "Somehow, Darth Helmet returned" isn't in this movie, I'll eat my hat
Wtf are you on about? (Score:5, Interesting)
Seeing Mel Brooks alive and chirpy in that short youtube video is worth more than all comedy in the past 30 years put together!
GTA V (Score:3)
Seeing Mel Brooks alive and chirpy in that short youtube video is worth more than all comedy in the past 30 years put together!
+1
I've always thought that Solomon Richards in GTA V was based, at least in part on Mel Brooks... "Only assholes retire, Michael".
His inscription was right (Score:2)
He's an Asshole, sir! (Score:4, Funny)
I will ABSOLUTELY go to see this! (Score:2)
And it will be the first time I've set foot in a theatre (that wasn't for my kids) in decades.
Mixed feelings (Score:2)
I want this to be great, I really do. Spaceballs is just about my favorite movie. But lately it feels like other people are mostly attaching their fanfic to Mel's name and legacy, *cough* while they still, er, can.
History of the World Part 2 was good for a couple of laughs, for instance, but not especially good, and clearly only had minimal involvement from Mel. Which should come as no surprise. I mean the guy's 98, FFS. I'm sure Nick Kroll had the time of his life making it.
This is clearly Josh Gad's baby.
Really? (Score:2)
Mel Brooks is days away form 99 years old. Does anyone really think that this will get done?
For those that will say that someone else will finish it; if Brooks doesn't do it, it will suck!
Re: Age (Score:2)
I'm sure he has an eager and creative staff; who wouldn't want a shot at such an opportunity? I'd probably do it for free! [1]
Mel merely has to provide guidance and let others do the details. And if by chance he beams up [2] to the Great Comedy Stage in the Sky, they'll carry on to finish it.
[1] I do have savings, but I imagine many in Hollywood are barely scraping by, it's not a well-paying industry for most.
[2] I hope he does a Wesley Crushe
Re: (Score:2)
There were a grand total of two sentences. But, you couldn't make it to, nor comprehend, the second sentence?
I hope he recreates the "Han (Score:3)
shot first" scene whereby Han and Greedo realize their first shot didn't do the job so take a second, and then a third, and getting frustrated both start mass repeat firing.
Smoke eventually obscures our view, and after several seconds the firing stops. The dust clears, and we see an exhausted & wobbly Han and Greedo barely standing among the ruins of a completely demolished cantina.
Realizing their guns are too hot to both hold & function, they toss them aside, and catch a breath. Then Greedo points to Han and says, "You shot first!". Han replies, "No I didn't, you did!", They then start a shouting match as the camera backs away from the flattened cantina to reveal the desert with nothing but their echoing arguments.
Re: (Score:2)
I hope he recreates the "Han shot first" scene whereby Han and Greedo realize their first shot didn't do the job so take a second, and then a third, and getting frustrated both start mass repeat firing.
Smoke eventually obscures our view, and after several seconds the firing stops. The dust clears, and we see an exhausted & wobbly Han and Greedo barely standing among the ruins of a completely demolished cantina.
Realizing their guns are too hot to both hold & function, they toss them aside, and catch a breath. Then Greedo points to Han and says, "You shot first!". Han replies, "No I didn't, you did!", They then start a shouting match as the camera backs away from the flattened cantina to reveal the desert with nothing but their echoing arguments.
That would be epic.
But I'm still waiting ... (Score:2)
What ever happened to History of the World Part 2 ... ?
Re: (Score:2)
Blah Blah Dinks (Score:2)
It better be called (Score:4, Insightful)
It must be called: "The Search for More Money" (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I liked his movies when I was younger. These days? When I watch, the same movies just are not funny anymore.
I really wanted to see History of the World Part 2, back in the day. It never came. If it came out today, I doubt I would find it very funny.
Here you go /. Screwing up link. [slashdot.org] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's clear you've never seen a Mel Brookes movie if you think it'll be woke.
Re: (Score:2)
It's clear you've never seen a Mel Brookes movie if you think it'll be woke.
It's clear you didn't understand any Mel Brooks movies if you think they aren't all woke.
Re: (Score:2)
Did you even understand the plot of Blazing Saddles? People are right they couldn’t make the movie today because the scene with the KKK would get called woke garbage.