When looking over all the Mel Brooks movies, it’s safe to say that 1987’s Spaceballs, a parody of the original Star Wars movies, is one of the filmmaker’s more well-known cinematic offerings. Among the funniest jokes in the movie is when Brooks as Yogurt informed Bill Pullman’s Lone Starr that they may meet again in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money. Although Brooks never ended up making such a flick in real life (though he did express interest in doing so), it appears that Josh Gad may have teased he’s working on a Spaceballs sequel.
Gad, of course, is no stranger to comedy, from his time on stage productions like The Book of Mormon and Gutenberg! The Musical!, to appearances in movies and TV shows like The Wedding Ringer, New Girl and Avenue 5, not to mention how funny his Frozen character Olaf is across that franchise. But Gad also has a sizable amount of writing experience under his belt, which includes him creating the short-lived sitcom 1600 Penn and the animated Apple TV+ series Central Park (which ended last year). Gad has now revealed on his social media channels, including Instagram, the latest project he’s penned, so take a look:
As seen in the caption, Josh Gad thinks this film script, which he wrote with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, may be the “funniest and best thing he’s ever worked on,” but almost all the details in the pages he shared are blacked out. So why am I bringing up a Spaceballs sequel? Well, there are two potential clues that have many people thinking that this is Gad’s upcoming projects.
First, whatever this script is about involves a preexisting IP, as evidenced by the “Based on Characters Created by” part. If you look closely though, the first name of the creator appears to be Mel, so when you combine that with the fact that this is a comedy, Mel Brooks is a logical conclusion. Second, the little portion of the second page shown says “EXT. STAR FIELD,” so whatever movie Gad, Hernandez and Samit have written opens with a scene set in outer space.
Now obviously we can’t say with 100% certainty that Josh Gad is working on Spaceballs 2, but it’s looking pretty likely given what little information is available. Ideally Gad will confirm or debunk this belief sooner rather than later, but of all the contemporary comic talents to revive Spaceballs, I trust he and his partners to handle this material effectively. It also helps that not only does Gad know Brooks and worked with him (Brooks guest-starred as The Producer in the cast recording for Gutenberg! The Musical!), he’s already acted in a different Brooks-related revival, History of the World Part II, the limited series that can be streamed with a Hulu subscription.
If this Spaceballs sequel is indeed on the way, it will be the second time the property has been revisited, as Spaceballs: The Animated Series aired 13 episodes from June 2008 to March 2009. It’ll also be interesting to see if the sequel would bring back surviving cast members from the original like Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga and Rick Moranis, or if it would star all-new faces, and thus function as more of a reboot.
Whatever the case, we’ll either let you know if Spaceballs 2 is moving forward if there’s official confirmation or pass along if Josh Gad said this was a script for something completely different. For now, look through our 2024 movies schedule to see what cinematic entertainment is out now and arriving later in the year.
