Hollywood legend Mel Brooks, who is turning 99 in a few weeks, is officially confirmed to appear in the as-yet-untitled Spaceballs sequel.
Brooks will reprise the orle of Yogurt in the follow-up to the 1987 comedy classic. Mel Brooks had directed and co-written the original film, and played dual roles (the other was President Skrood).
Josh Greenbaum is helming the sequel from a script by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez and Josh Gad, the latter of whom is also rumoured to star.
Plot details for the sequel have not yet been revealed. Originally released in 1987, Spaceballs starred Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis and Daphne Zuniga, as well as Joan Rivers in a voice role as C-3PO in a wig. In Spaceballs, “heroic mercenary Lone Starr (Pullman) and his alien sidekick Barf (Candy) rescue Princess Vespa (Zuniga) of Druidia and her droid, Dot Matrix (Rivers), from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob (Brooks), who wants to use Vespa as ransom to obtain Druidia’s air for their own planet. However, the heroes get stranded on a desert moon, where they encounter the wise Yogurt (also Brooks), who teaches Starr about the metaphysical power known as “the Schwartz”. Meanwhile, Spaceball commanders Dark Helmet (Moranis) and Colonel Sandurz (Wyner) lead the search for them but are hindered by their own incompetence.”
Though primarily a parody of George Lucas’ franchise, Spaceballs also takes jabs at other popular films and franchises like Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and even Transformers.
Josh Gad previously teased his work on the project in a cryptic Instagram post, in which all relevant details were blacked out. “Just handed in a film script that I think may be the funniest and best thing I’ve ever worked on and I am so freaking excited,” Gad captioned.