Slashdot Mirror


Mel Brooks Says 'Spaceballs' Sequel In The Works

BlueDino writes "Several news sites are reporting that Mel Brooks will release a sequel to Spaceballs. As far as a release date, Brooks says, 'Best case scenario: a week before the new Star Wars opens. Worst Case Scenario: a year after the new star wars opens.'"

65 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. We knew this.. by xTK-421x · · Score: 5, Funny

    This shouldn't be news to anyone, they already told us it was coming.

    LONE STARR: Thanks. Well, we'd better get going. I wonder, we will we ever see each other again.

    YOGURT: Who knows. God willing we'll all meet again in Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money.

    --
    "TK-421, why aren't you at your post?"
    1. Re:We knew this.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I was just thinking that if they named the sequel anything BUT The Search for More Money it'd be disappointing...

    2. Re:We knew this.. by Wind_Walker · · Score: 5, Funny
      In an interview with Mel Brooks a while ago (on the order of years) he stated that he would not name a Spaceballs sequel "Spaceballs II", but would instead name it:

      "Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II"

    3. Re:We knew this.. by DarkHelmet · · Score: 5, Funny

      YESS!!!!! I knew this slashdot username would come in handy one day!

      --
      /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  2. sooo, ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    we will have a pair of Spaceballs now?...

  3. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lonestar shoots first!

  4. goody by kippy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe this will be as good as Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Oh wait, that sucked.

    Mel's great but he jumped the shark after Young Frankenstein, Blazing Sadles and the Producers.

    1. Re:goody by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Mel's great but he jumped the shark after Young Frankenstein, Blazing Sadles and the Producers.

      That's quite a long jump, 1974 (Fankenstein) to 2001 (Producers).

      Isn't it more fair to say that he's had his hits and misses over his 65+ year career?
    2. Re:goody by kippy · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Producers was made in 1968.

    3. Re:goody by Fnkmaster · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I'm not sure if you realize this, but Mel Brooks recently turned his old Producers movie into the most financially successful (and one of the funniest) Broadway shows ever. I paid an ungodly sum for two Orchestra seats, not once but twice, during the recent "revival" of the Nathan Lane/Matthew Broadrick casting, once to bring my mother and once a lady friend.


      Anyway, the point is that while much of his work in the 90s was pure crap, his career can now officially be considered back off life support.

    4. Re:goody by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 5, Insightful
      ' Maybe this will be as good as Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Oh wait, that sucked."

      Newsflash buddy, there's a LOT of people out there who loved Men in Tights.

      Yet another ignorant person who assumes that their opinion is fact...

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    5. Re:goody by pi_rules · · Score: 5, Funny
      Newsflash buddy, there's a LOT of people out there who loved Men in Tights.

      In the future you may want to slide the words "the movie" in there somewhere.
  5. How about History Of The World Part 2? by simetra · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Really, that's begging to be made.


    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
    1. Re:How about History Of The World Part 2? by MustardMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      Jewsssss Innnn Sppaaaaaaccceeeeeee

    2. Re:How about History Of The World Part 2? by Noksagt · · Score: 5, Informative
      Whoever modded this and the other Jews in Space post as Troll has obviously not seen the movie. At the end of History of the World: Part 1:
      See Hitler On Ice! See A Viking Funeral! See Jews In Space!
    3. Re:How about History Of The World Part 2? by MustardMan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Since we're being informative, I will also point out that the Jews in Space tune seems to be a Mel Brooks favorite.
      Compare...

      We're Jews, we're Jews in space...
      Patrolling the skies defending the Hebrew race

      with

      We're men, we're men in tights
      We roam around the forest looking for fights


      I love Mel Brooks as much as the next geek, but it's amusing to see what a one-trick pony he is sometimes.

    4. Re:How about History Of The World Part 2? by MilenCent · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I love Mel Brooks as much as the next geek, but it's amusing to see what a one-trick pony he is sometimes.

      Ah-ha, caught you! You can't be a one-trick pony "sometimes," you either are or you aren't.

      To only be a one-trick pony sometimes implies the existance of more than one trick, existing outside the time period refered to. Thus, the question is moved to, how are you defining the one-trick period?

      Anyway, seriously, it's not an uncommon tune structure, and Brooks has written enough other songs that I think he can be forgiven for repeating a melody once in a while. After all, he gave us Springtime for Hitler....

      My god, I just realized what that sounds like to the uninitiated. Um, er... I'm not a Nazi!!

  6. Yay! by slavemowgli · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, that certainly is one movie I'll be looking forward to. Let's just hope it'll be able to live up to the quality and humour of first Spaceballs movie instead of ending up as yet another crappy and unfunny sequel; given Mel Brooks' mixed movie history (which included some really funny stuff, but also some rather crappy failed attempts) I'm not sure just what to expect, but I do hope for the best.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
    1. Re:Yay! by Bonker · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Brooks' stuff is uneven, but some of it is great.

      Remember that a great deal of his directoral work is influenced heavily by 30s and 40s movie direction techniques, with long, drawn out pauses, long establishing shots, and great care to extract maximum emotional impact from the viewer. It relies more on in-jokes, subtle ethnic humor, and wild-takes.

      Compare to today's comedies, which are influenced by the dramatically shorter attention span created by TV, Video games, and the intrnet. They rely more on extremely visual humor rather than situational humor and cut establishment to the bare minimum. Satires in particular rely on deadpan 'straight man' jokes, at a pace that seems rapid-fire in comparison to earlier works.

      I'm not saying one format is better. They're just different formats. Don't group Brooks with the Farelli Brothers or Mike Meyers any more than you'd group Peter Jackson with Alfred Hitchcock.

      I submit that 'Men in Tights' would have been an *incredible* film if only it had been edited differently.

      --
      The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
  7. Haha finally! by TheKubrix · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I remember as a kid when that movie came out there was all these rumors (hey were little kids!) that they were coming out with Spaceballs 3: The search for Spaceballs 2. Anyone else hear that?

    1. Re:Haha finally! by imsabbel · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, it will be spaceballs 1.
      THe current one will be renamed "spaceballs it was always episode 4"

      --
      HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
    2. Re:Haha finally! by Gudlyf · · Score: 4, Funny

      BAH! They need to star this kid as young Dark Helmet!

      --
      Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
    3. Re:Haha finally! by JimTheta · · Score: 3, Informative

      That thing you read was one of those no-story headline-and-a-picture things on The Onion. The headline was something like "Jonathan Lipnicki confirmed to play Dark Helment in Spaceballs Prequel" and it was accompanied by a headshot of the kid. It stuck in my head because I thought it was hilarious.

      (That's the same kid from Jerry Maguire, you might remember.)

      But yeah, The Onion, so no ground in fact.

  8. May the schwartz be with you! by plover · · Score: 5, Funny
    Please let there be lots of killing of the ewok things... please o please... and a JarJar. He's gotta kill a lot of JarJars!!

    Could be the Greatest Movie Ever!

    --
    John
    1. Re:May the schwartz be with you! by beacher · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't forget the evil marketing droid army!

  9. /.'ing Those News Sites by BRock97 · · Score: 5, Funny

    My God, they've gone to plaid!

    --

    Bryan R.
    The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
    1. Re:/.'ing Those News Sites by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, plaid is what happens when you go fast. The news sites have gone paisley.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:/.'ing Those News Sites by BRock97 · · Score: 3, Informative

      "It sounds like plaid is just one of those things that strikes Americans as being intrinsically funny, which isn't over here..."

      The deal, here in the US at least, is that for all the different sci-fi movies that have been released, they all treat faster than light travel with these insanely bright textures that twist and turn. Plus, the faster the speed, the more colorful and chaotic the pattern. Any movie that has a ship go that fast will have that feature. So, Mel Brooks was lampooning this with the fact that they were going so fast, their pattern turned to plaid. It still makes me laugh out loud.

      --

      Bryan R.
      The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
  10. I disagree. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If ever there was a series that needed mocking, it's the new starwars series. Anyone who's willing to throw a pie at lucas and his giant ego has got my vote.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    1. Re:I disagree. by EvilAlien · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Thats a lot of people.

      Doesn't Lucas realize that Empire Strikes Back, with screenwriters Who Aren't Named Lucas and a director Who Isn't Named Lucas, was the best of the Star Wars movies? The awful acting out of Mannequin Skywalker and Amidala good have been hammered out with somebody capable of writing good dialog and a director capable of recognizing stale delivery.

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  11. Re:Well we all know the title by semifamous · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, no no.

    That was just kidding.

    This will be "Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2"

  12. Good is dumb by Nuclear+Elephant · · Score: 4, Funny

    And Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.

  13. Jon Candy is dead... by JeeNam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...so who will play Barf?

    1. Re:Jon Candy is dead... by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I can see the "Son of Barf" being a decent character replacement that doesn't really need explaining


      --
      People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
    2. Re:Jon Candy is dead... by somethinghollow · · Score: 4, Funny

      They'll get John Belushi. Oh, wait. No...

      They'll get Chris Farley. Ah, damn. Not again...

      Maybe that guy from Mad TV?

    3. Re:Jon Candy is dead... by mustangsal66 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Artie Lang would be great as Barf Jr. (From Mad TV, Dirty Work, etc...)

      --
      Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed "nucular" accelerator on his back.
      Sig changed for readability by G.W.
  14. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  15. Huh? by WPIDalamar · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought episodes 1 & 2 were already parodys of the star wars universe.

  16. History of the World Part 2 by ari_j · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm still waiting to SEE!!!...Jews in space!

    1. Re:History of the World Part 2 by Jacco+de+Leeuw · · Score: 4, Funny

      Obligatory Simpsons quote:

      "You mean Mel Brooks is Jewish??!"

      --
      -------
      Warning: Slashdot may contain traces of nuts.
    2. Re:History of the World Part 2 by Nemith · · Score: 3, Funny

      Funny.... he doesn't look druish.

  17. What would be hilarious... by ticklemeozmo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is they watch a scene from the original Spaceballs (from Mr. Rental, of course) and during the scene where Vespa picks up the gun, she shoots firsT. ;)

    --
    When modding "Informative", please make sure it both has a source and IS actually informative.
  18. How about a prequel? by raider_red · · Score: 4, Funny

    He could make a prequel that really sucks, but in a funny way.

    --
    It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
  19. If he's good it won't be the Search for More Money by unlinear · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If Brooks really wants to do a good satire, he'll open SpaceBalls II with a flashback to the Yogurt scene 'SpaceBalls II' and then re-dub the dialogue to have a different title for SpaceBalls. Preferably by one of those bad-asian-flick re-dub voice actors, clearly re-dubbed and badly synched.

    It'd be the perfect jab at Lucas's revisional approach to Star Wars...

  20. Another classic down the blackhole...Al Gore. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Well, we don't know that yet, do we? Expect the worst, but hope for the best..."

    The motto for the upcoming November elections.

  21. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by SlashdotLemming · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yet another classic ruined by an unnecessary sequel.

    They didn't even make the movie yet and you're already pissing on it.

    Honestly, I hope it blows, and I hope Brooks makes a ton of money, and I hope he makes a third which blows even more, and I want Lucas and Brooks to make a Seinfeldesque bizarro world Christmas special featuring Anakin and Dark Helmet and all their friends that look alike, and I want Kenner to release the special edition "Ruining geek childhood memories" action figure line. I just like seeing all you cranks bitch and moan over pointless things that you have no control over. It's great that you take this all so personally.

  22. SPACE BALLS I REMASTERED DVD! by Anubis333 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Amazon has a new remastered Spaceballs DVD soon to be released. Aparently it has a lot of new scenes, here's a blurb from Mel Brooks:

    "When we created the original SpaceBalls, we really didn't have enough money or the ability to fulfill my full artistic vision, but thanks to the dawn of computer graphics, the remastered SpaceBalls I DVD will finally allow the public to see my full, unhindered, artistic vision."

    New features include:
    - A CG sidekick Jin Dar Jinx, who beguiles audiences with his slapstick 'off-the-hook' hijinx!
    - A 2 hour space battle.
    - Set extensions created with 3D computer graphics modeled after miniature sets, which were used as matte backdrops in the original film!
    - Computer Generated spacecraft copies of original model spacecraft, now allowing for motion blur!
    - New, more realistic, contemporary, engine sounds for galatic space ships.

  23. Re:Comb the desert, do you hear me... by s_mencer · · Score: 4, Funny

    We aint found SHIT!

  24. CGI Madness by Slendro · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope that Brooks pokes a little fun at Lucas
    by showing a scene from the first Spaceballs with
    tons of excessive CGI characters inserted...

    --
    God is my Palm Pilot.
  25. Revisionist Spaceballs I on TV by YankeeInExile · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Recently, I came across Spaceballs on TV here, with subtitles, and the subtitling sometimes takes liberty with the script - for example to translate idiomatically.

    When it came to the scene where they went to get the video of the movie to see what happened later, the subtitles diverged FAR from the original dialog in a much funnier way. Instead of "home video" the source of the film was....
    Pirates.
    Pirates?
    Yes, Pirates. Piracy has become so rampant, that you can now get a copy of the movie before it is even finished!

    Which is especially funny here, because often you can get pirated VCDs or VHS copies of movies before they're even released locally. The quality is horrendous, and the subtitling is

    WRTN LK PPL TALK IN CHAT ROOMS
    .

    Just for a price-check: A VHS copy of a film is about a dollar eighty, and a VCD is two dollars fifty. DVDs are sometimes burned, and they sell for four or five bucks. Bit-copies of commercial DVDs sell for as much as ten bucks.

    --
    How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
  26. Good news... by hencethus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...but I'm still waiting for Men in Tights on DVD!

  27. That guy from MadTV by The+Queen · · Score: 4, Informative

    Will Sasso

    He was a brilliant retard in "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and I think he'd make a wonderful Barfolomew Jr. :-)

    --

    The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
  28. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by sgant · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I actually worked on the original Space Balls. I was a production assistant at the now defunct Apogee which did the effects for the film.

    Apogee was the original ILM near Van Nuys airport, but John Dykstra kept it after ILM moved north. It was cool working there seeing some of the original models of the X-wing in the lobby of Apogee.

    But this was way before CGI came to the scene.

    --

    "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
  29. What would be really funny... by ReadbackMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is if it makes more money than the Star Wars movie released around the same time.. funny because of the title, and well, because the new movies suck and I hope someone gets punished for the sucking.

  30. Not a sequel. by theendlessnow · · Score: 3, Funny
    It's just a re-release with some updated cgi that helps ease the relationship between it and Blazing Saddles. The emperor is added and will be played by Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr.

    There are some other changes that will happen when B.S. is re-released as well involving the saloon scene which will have some cgi work as well to make it more catina-like.

  31. Spaceballs: Episode -1 by hollismb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, it has to be a prequel, about how Rick Moranis becomes Darth Helmet, possibly revealing more backstory about his father's sister's uncle's brother's cousin's roomate.

    1. Re:Spaceballs: Episode -1 by clacke · · Score: 3, Informative

      Former roommate, if I may.

  32. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by Nexzus · · Score: 5, Funny
    They didn't even make the movie yet and you're already pissing on it.

    Must be that instant cassette feature.

    --
    Karma: Can only be portioned out by the Cosmos.
  33. Mel Brooks needs Gene Wilder by Odd+John · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mel Brooks was brilliant when he was teamed up with Gene Wilder. That's why Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein were wonderful.

    Mel Brooks without Gene Wilder is mediocre at best.

  34. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    Honestly, I hope it blows, and I hope Brooks makes a ton of money, and I hope he makes a third which blows even more,
    Remember:
    Lonestar: "we're not doing it for the money, Barf"
    Barf: "We're not?"
    Lonestar: "No, we're doing it for a SHITLOAD of money!"
    Gotta love it :-)
  35. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by sgant · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All the misinformation in your post makes me question your original assertion that you ever worked in the space balls movie.

    I hope others catch you in your lies and mod you down to -5 liar.


    Actually, you're very wrong indeed. ILM DID start at the same facilities as Apogee...I know, I was fucking there. Where YOU there? Of course not, course, couldn't prove it either way since you hid behind an anonymous coward post.

    Apogee didn't start up shop until AFTER ILM moved north, Dykstra remained behind and went on his own and did Battlestar Galactica.

    Hell, you can even look at old pictures of them doing the original Star Wars where they're out in the parking lot shooting some of the Death Star scenes. That was the same parking lot at Apogee!

    Sheesh. Also, I was a production assistant, which ment that I took film to the lab...that's it. I didn't work on the film per-se...I was a peon. Want the name and address of the Lab I took the film to also?

    --

    "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
  36. Re:Another classic down the blackhole... by Erik+Fish · · Score: 3, Informative

    "ILM was then housed in an old warehouse in an industrial area of Van Nuys (on or near Kester St, as I recall). By coincidence, Van Nuys was where I grew up, so I knew the area well."
    -- Alan Dean Foster, Some interview

    "In fact, Apogee was none other than the original shop set up for Industrial Light and Magic in Van Nuys, California, by George Lucas in 1975."
    -- Some site on model building

    "At this point, John Dykstra got a call from Glen Larson. Glen had contacted either George Lucas or Gary Kurtz to find out if he and Universal could lease the ILM Van Nuys facility we had used to create the VFX for Star Wars, in order to shoot Battlestar Galactica."
    -- Some site with an ad that wants to install an IE plug-in

    "Lucas hired effects expert John Dykstra to head a new production facility, located in old warehouses in Van Nuys, California. After completing Star Wars he relocated ILM to the Bay Area."
    -- Some .edu site about the history of CG

    That's just a few picks from the first page of Google results, too.

  37. Also, more info in case anyone was interested. by sgant · · Score: 3, Informative

    To respond to that idiot anonymous troll earlier, a quick Google search will show quite a few sites and quotes such as:

    LIGHTING V'GER - a site about the original Star Trek: The Motion Picture
    Apogee closed it's doors a couple of years ago, but in 1979 it was barely two years old, having formed when Dykstra, and several other key players from Lucas' Star Wars, remained at the former ILM facility in Van Nuys after Lucas moved north.

    Hollywood VFX Master, Richard Edlund, Talks About His Work On The Original Battlestar Galactica
    At this point, John Dykstra got a call from Glen Larson. Glen had contacted either George Lucas or Gary Kurtz to find out if he and Universal could lease the ILM Van Nuys facility we had used to create the VFX for Star Wars, in order to shoot Battlestar Galactica. And apparently, George agreed to it. So our main team, minus Robby Blalack, signed on to do the Galactica visual effects.

    And one more:
    A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animation
    Lucas hired effects expert John Dykstra to head a new production facility, located in old warehouses in Van Nuys, California. After completing Star Wars he relocated ILM to the Bay Area.

    Apogee was the FX facility created by John Dykstra, the original Star Wars supervisor. John Dykstra decided not to move to Northern California and opened shop in the old ILM facilities of Van Nuys. There he worked on several projects like Star Trek The Motion Picture, Firefox and Invaders From Mars. In 1993 Apogee closed. John Dykstra continued working as an independent VFX Supervisor and currently works for Imageworks on such projects as Stuart Little and Spider-Man.


    Ok class...any questions?

    --

    "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
  38. Re:Mel Brooks, like George Lucas, is vastly overra by neurojab · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >The jokes - like in most Mel Brooks movies - are racial, sexual and excretory. Blazing Saddles was not popular because it was an incisive parody of the western genre, it was popular because it was packed with crass and/or puerile humor. There's no difference between Mel Brooks and the Zuckers, or the Farrellys.

    You ought to give "Young Frankenstien" a try. Sure, it contains a bit of low-brow humor, and some of it is over the top, but overall it is a very incisive parody of a monster movie.

    Of course, It might not be that way if Gene Wilder didn't have his hand in it, but that's beside the point.

  39. Krusty retires by gad_zuki! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I dont think the shift in comedy has anything to do with "attention spans," which is at best a ham-fisted word used as a generic complaint about modern times.

    I think the best commentary on modern humor I've seen was the Simpsons episode in which Krusty retires. Krusty's old-school brand of Brooks-like comedy simply grew old and hackneyed. The comedians in this episode were of the typical genx-stock irreverant kind, but also the kind who would look down upon the old Brooks/Don Rickles ethnic-type jokes.

    This commentary is even more interesting as its a Simpsons episode, a show which pretty much defines post-modern humor. Things simply grow old and change. I don't see how the attention span complaint applies here. Its not like Don Rickles was ever known for his long drawn out monologues or anything and a lot of Brooks' gags and movies are pretty far from sophistication. If anything Brroks is a versatile performer/writer/director who can do anything from vaudville-esque comedy to today's postmodern stuff. Although his attempts at the latter do seem to suffer and his best work tends to lean on the "silly, simple gags" side.