There’s no statute of limitations for sequels. It’s becoming more common for follow-up movies to arrive decades after the original, especially for classic genre films like Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. Now, apparently, that even extends to parody movies. Scary Movie has a reboot slated for next year, and Spaceballs, the 1987 Mel Brooks Star Wars satire, is getting rebooted too.
A new hint at the project’s scope reveals that it’s doing more than just lampooning the past 40 years of Star Wars; it’s attempting to be a true sequel by taking on the entire sci-fi genre. Is that the right move? Is it even possible to pull it off? Here’s a breakdown of the big swing the movie is taking.
Spaceballs did a lot with only three Star Wars movies. What happens now that there have been six more?
In an interview with Esquire, Spaceballs 2 director Josh Greenbaum gave an update on the movie. “Back in the day, we didn’t have Netflix. You just went to your seven VHS tapes that you had in your house—and [Spaceballs] was one that was on repeat,” he said. “So I started speaking with Josh Gad and then, of course, Mel Brooks to work on this. I’ve been working with him. He’s ninety-eight, and he’s still the funniest and sharpest person. It’s a total joy.”
But Spaceballs 2 will do more than just poke fun at the never-ending deluge of Star Wars material that’s arrived since 1987. “There’s been a ton of Star Wars content,” Greenbaum said. “It’s just exploded beyond the fact that there have been not three but six Star Wars films made—and that’s just in the Star Wars universe. So there’s a lot of new [material to satirize], but we also certainly focus on continuing the old, so it is a true sequel.”
How do you top a singing and dancing chestburster?
A “true sequel” implies that the movie will pay due diligence to its plot and characters, but it also suggests that more than shots at Star Wars will be on the table. While most people remember Yogurt, Dark Helmet, and “Use the Schwartz,” Spaceballs did more than just take on the original Star Wars trilogy. No sci-fi property was safe; John Hurt even reprised his Alien role to have another xenomorph jump out of his chest. That means Spaceballs 2 could pull from the Star Trek universe, all the Alien sequels, and some Dune stuff too for good measure.
But is Spaceballs 2 biting off more than it can chew? Continuing the legacy of what came before and parodying what’s been released since are two very different tasks. Mel Brooks is certainly no stranger to pushing the envelope, so it’s fitting that the next chapter in one of his stories is shaping up to be equally ambitious. But trying to convince audiences to watch a legacy sequel, telling a fun story, and cramming in parodies of all sorts of different franchises is an awfully tall task.
Still, the worst thing you can be in the streaming landscape is competent but unremarkable. Spaceballs 2 attempting to be both a nostalgic sequel and a timely takedown of an entire genre is a big swing, but that’s the only way to stand out amid countless other sequels and reboots. Ambition is only as good as execution, but it’s always better than mediocrity. Last year, History of the World, Part II more or less succeeded as a long-gestating sequel to a beloved Mel Brooks movie. Only time will tell if lightning strikes twice.
