Mel Brooks wasn’t about to let his age stand in the way of a “Spaceballs” comeback.
Brooks, 100, had one very specific request before cameras started rolling – Don’t wait to film me.
“We filmed ‘Spaceballs: The New One’ that Mel Brooks worked with the writers on. He’s a big influence in it. He filmed his part already before we shot,” Daphne Zuniga, who plays Princess Vespa, told People during the “Melrose Place” 90s Con panel. “It was his idea: ‘You better film me now because I’m 100.’”
“So we did,” she said.
The upcoming sequel will also bring back several familiar faces, along with a few new additions.
“It opens April 23rd of next year,” Zuniga revealed. “Rick Moranis is back as Lord Dark Helmet, and Bill Pullman is back as my husband. His real son, Lewis Pullman, plays our son, the prince, and Keke Palmer is in it. It was great fun.”
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“Spaceballs,” co-written and produced by Brooks, premiered in 1987. The comedy legend was 60 when the movie premiered and is now 100 years old.
The film follows Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog sidekick Barf (John Candy) as they attempt to rescue Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) from the villainous Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) and President Skroob (Mel Brooks).
A parody of “Star Wars,” the movie also pokes fun at “Star Trek,” “Alien” and other science-fiction classics.
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Moranis’ portrayal of Dark Helmet became one of the film’s most memorable performances – but according to Brooks, it came at a price. He previously told Fox News Digital that the making of the film quickly racked up a bill, all thanks to one star.
“Rick Moranis cost me a lot of money,” Brooks explained. “When we were filming, the whole crew kept laughing at his antics and ruining take after take!”
“It all started with his entrance in his giant helmet and the line, ‘I can’t breathe in this thing,'” Brooks recalled. “His reading of it was so real and funny that everybody on the set exploded with laughter! I had to sternly caution the crew not to break up when Rick did his stuff, but it was hard because often I’d be the guilty one laughing my head off.”
Nearly four decades after first donning Dark Helmet’s oversized headgear, Moranis admitted that returning to the role felt like stepping into a time machine.
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“Well, I kept having to pinch myself because I would look at Daphne [Zuniga] and Bill [Pullman] and George Wyner. Earl Sanders. And then there were all these young people,” Moranis said during a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, according to People.
“And I realized I was their age 39 years ago when we made this,” the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” actor said. “And here we are now, and my kids are the age of this.”
“I felt like I was in a time warp, but I was in that outfit and wearing the helmet,” he added. “And it just felt very strange to be honest with you. But it started to feel really good and I really started to love it.”
