Almost 40 years later, Spaceballs is getting a sequel that brings star Rick Moranis out of retirement

It's official: after 38 years, Mel Brooks' beloved satire Spaceballs is getting a sequel. What's more, original star Rick Moranis is coming out of retirement to reprise his role as the film's villain, Dark Helmet. He'll be joined by the returning Bill Pullman as Lonestar, with Keke Palmer as the newcomer of the announced cast, according to Deadline.

The announcement came in the form of a social media video that starts with a Star Wars style scroll which takes gentle aim at the many "prequels to the sequels" and "sequels to the prequels" that have been released since Spaceballs hit the scene in 1987, along with a message from Brooks himself.

"After 40 years we asked, what do the fans want?" Brooks jokes. "But instead, we're making this movie. May the Schwartz be with you!"

The announcement ends with the teaser of Dark Helmet's, uh, helmet, cracked and broken, held together with bandages.

If you're a child of the '80s and '90s like me, your heart is probably pounding a little bit right now. In the dark ages between the end of the original Star Wars trilogy and its resurgence in the mid-'90s, Spaceballs was in some ways even more ubiquitous than the films it parodies thanks to endless airings on cable.

And though it may not be the very best of Brooks' films (here's looking at you, Young Frankenstein), it's one of the ones I've continued to revisit the most over the years, and one of the films that appeals most directly to my silly, sci-fi loving heart.

For those like me who have seen it dozens of times, the actual announcement of Spaceballs 2 serves as perhaps the longest awaited punchline ever for one of the original film's most memorable jokes, in which Brooks' own Yogurt quips that there's already a sequel in the works titled "Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money". As a kid, I honestly thought it was coming, and now, it finally is.

Maybe it's a little corny, but I'm more excited about Spaceballs 2 than I have been about any actual Star Wars project in years. The fact that Rick Moranis is returning for the film is the cherry on top. He's been off camera since 1997, with no acting roles at all aside from a few scant voice appearances over the years. He was originally going to reprise his role as Wayne Szalinski in a new Honey I Shrunk the Kids spin-off, but since that project was canceled, Spaceballs 2 will mark Moranis' big return.

Spaceballs 2 is slated to hit theaters in 2027. Mel Brooks will be 100 years old.

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