Summary
Mel Brooks is working onSpaceballs 2at Amazon, and fromAvatartoInterstellartoEverything Everywhere All at Once, there are plenty of recent sci-fi movies that the sequel could spoof. Brooks’ classic originalSpaceballsmovie from 1987 was primarily a parody of the originalStar Warstrilogy. But it also took a few opportunities to poke fun at the other sci-fi behemoth,Star Trek, and there’s a great nod toAlien’s iconic chestburster scene (featuring John Hurt himself, no less) at the end of the movie.
It was recentlyconfirmed thatSpaceballs 2is in developmentwith Brooks attached as a producer and Josh Gad attached to star.The sequel will be directed by Josh Greenbaum, working from a screenplay written by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and Gad. It’s unclear if the sequel will be a direct continuation of the original or more of a spiritual follow-up, but there are a ton of modern classics of the sci-fi genre thatSpaceballs 2could satirize.
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10The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Lightspeeding Through the Sequel Trilogy
The most obvious satirical target forSpaceballs 2would be theStar Warssequel trilogy.Spaceballs 2is a long-awaited legacy sequel arriving decades after the original, and that’s exactly what theStar Warssequel trilogy was. They could even call the sequelThe Schwartz Awakens. TheStar Warssequels revolve around an older Luke, an older Han, and an older Leia as they reckon with history repeating itself and a new empire rising up – there’s plenty of comedic potential in spoofing that rehashed storyline.
The bigger Death Star ofThe Force Awakensis practically a self-parody.
There are plenty of things in theStar Warssequel trilogy to make fun of.The bigger Death Star ofThe Force Awakensis practically a self-parody. From Maz Kanata’s broken promise about “another time” to Rey randomly hijacking the Skywalker name, there are a ton of potential gags intheStar Warssequels’ worst moments.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
9Avatar
Parodying Pandora’s Problems
The biggest sci-fi franchise to come along sinceSpaceballslampooned the originalStar Warstrilogy is James Cameron’sAvatarsaga. Cameron has only made twoAvatarmovies so far, but they both rank among the highest-grossing movies ever made, and despite what the cynics say, they’ve had a huge cultural impact.The underlying premise of humans transferring their consciousness into alien bodies is ripe for parody.It could be used to lampoon self-image or simply for some silly slapstick gags.
As great asAvataris, it opens itself up to parody.The on-the-nose environmentalist messaging of theAvatarmovies could be satirized in a great running gag inSpaceballs 2. The annoying kid with the dreadlocks inAvatar: The Way of Watercould be parodied with a similarly insufferable supporting character in theSpaceballssequel.
8Moonfall
Moondust and Mayhem on a Cracked Moon
One of the most ridiculous sci-fi movies in recent years is Roland Emmerich’sMoonfall. The disaster movie master behind the alien invasion ofIndependence Dayand the Mayan prophecy unfolding in2012took a goofy conspiracy theory a little too seriously inMoonfall.The movie presupposes that the Moon is an artificial megastructure. When it’s knocked out of its orbit, the Moon starts crashing down to Earth.
Moonfallis exactly as ludicrous as it sounds, and it’s perfect for a parody because it’s almost a parody of itself.The transformation of Spaceball I into the Mega-Maid – a giant robotic maid with a vacuum cleaner – is easier to take seriously than the premise ofMoonfall. A moon falling out of orbit into a planet is just stupid enough to work as the main conflict of aSpaceballssequel.
7Nope
Taking a Jab at Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Jordan Peele put his own unique stamp on the science fiction genre with his blockbuster epicNope.Noperevolves around a floating alien entity nicknamed “Jean Jacket” that hides behind clouds and sucks spectators up into its voracious black hole. Although it plays as a straightforward sci-fi thriller, on paper, it almost sounds like it could be a comedy.
While the surreal elements ofNopework well enough within the context of the movie itself, some of those elements could be taken out of context to work as gags inSpaceballs 2.For starters, a terrifying alien killer with the name “Jean Jacket” sounds inherently absurd.The notion of this terrifying alien killer hiding behind a cloud to avoid detection sounds inherently absurd. There’s a lot of comedy gold hidden behind Peele’s breathtaking cinematic vision inNope.
6Rebel Moon
Spoofing a Rebel Uprising in Space
Zack Snyder’s two-part sci-fi epicRebel Moonis crying out for a parody.The first part plays like an elongated montage of the hero putting together a band of gunslingers to protect a wheat planet from the evil forces of the Imperium. All of these gunslingers are interchangeable, with a badass attitude, a cool signature weapon, and a contrived tragic backstory. There’s nothing that distinguishes them from one another, andSpaceballs 2could get a great gag out of that.
The one-note characterization, overuse of slow-motion, and blatant plagiarization of sci-fi masterworks makeRebel Moonripe for parody.
The second part ofRebel Moonis a bit more tolerable, since it dives into the high-octane battle sequences promised by the first part, but it’s still impossible to care about these characters. The one-note characterization, overuse of slow-motion, and blatant plagiarization of sci-fi masterworks makeRebel Moonripe for parody.Maybe some good can come of Snyder’s sci-fi slog after all.
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5Spaceman
Lost in a Derelict Spaceship
Earlier this year, Netflix released a sci-fi drama that initially plays likeMoonorSilent Running, with Adam Sandler playing a lonely astronaut grappling with his troubled marriage while drifting through the isolation of space. ButSpacemantakes a truly bizarre turn when Sandler’s astronaut is greeted by a giant telepathic spider that somehow made its way onto his ship.As the movie goes on, this spider essentially becomes Sandler’s therapist,helping him work through his emotional issues.
MaybeSpaceballs 2can feature a giant spider as Princess Vespa’s therapist.Or it could have Lone Starr and Barf encounter a giant spider while soaring through space in Eagle 5, and the spider tries to pry into their feelings. There’s a lot of potential for a spoof pointing out the absurdity ofSpaceman’s spider therapy premise.
4Everything Everywhere All At Once
Everything, Everywhere, All Hilarious
It’s rare that the Academy recognizes sci-fi movies,butEverything Everywhere All at Onceswept the Oscarsin 2023.The Michelle Yeoh-starring multiversal epic has become a staple of pop culture – especially with its oft-quoted “laundry and taxes” line – and, as such, would be a great satirical target forSpaceballs 2to take aim at. The movie uses an action-packed adventure across the multiverse to explore a financially unstable family on an intimate personal level.
The genius ofEverything Everywhere All at Onceis that it uses ridiculous visuals like a raccoon-centric parody ofRatatouilleand a universe where people have hot dogs for fingers to serve a poignant human story.It’s all about a mother and daughter struggling to connect with each other.It would be easy to incorporate some of those sillier concepts, taken out of context, into a parody.
3Interstellar
Interstellar Travel Gets a Mel Brooks Makeover
Christopher Nolan has made a few sci-fi movies that would make a great parody.The dream-within-a-dream nonsense ofInceptionwas brilliantly satirized inSouth Park, and the time-traveling bullets ofTenetwould probably be better-suited to an absurdist comedy than a straightforward spy-fi thriller. But the Nolan movie that’s most ripe for parody isInterstellar, because it’s Nolan’s most sincere movie and crosses the line into saccharin a few times too many.
Anne Hathaway has an oft-mocked monologue about how love is the only thing that can’t be quantified by scientific theory.
There are plenty of moments inInterstellarthat are easy to make fun of.Anne Hathaway has an oft-mocked monologue about how love is the only thing that can’t be quantified by scientific theory. Matthew McConaughey goes through a black hole and ends up going back in time to poke books out of his daughter’s bookcase.Interstellarcould form the basis for a hilariousSpaceballssequel.
2The Matrix Resurrections
Resurrecting The Matrix with Laughter
If theSpaceballssequel is going to get meta about being a sequel, then it could look toThe Matrix Resurrectionsfor inspiration. The fourthMatrixmovie opens with the shocking revelation that the entire original trilogy never actually happened. It was just a video game designed by Thomas Anderson.The movie eventually reveals that Anderson is back in the Matrix and the original trilogy did really happen,but it sticks with its initial conceit for a while.
Anderson is told that Warner Bros.wants to make a sequel toThe Matrixtrilogy with or without him. He reluctantly steps into the writers’ room to figure out what a fourthMatrixstory could possibly be. The audacity of this self-awareness could be used as a springboard to satirize the franchise model even further in theSpaceballssequel.
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1Dune
Spicing Up the Sands of Arrakis
One of the biggest influences on theStar Warssaga was Frank Herbert’sDune, and now, thanks to Denis Villeneuve,Dunehas become a widely celebrated movie franchise of its own.Villeneuve’s mind-blowing two-part adaptation has not only brought Herbert’s vision to the screen, but brought this weird sci-fi allegory into the mainstream. The power struggles on Arrakis would form the basis for a great spoof storyline inSpaceballs 2.
The characters all wear suits that convert their bodily fluids into drinking water.
There are a bunch of concepts inDunethat would serveSpaceballs 2with ready-made gags. The characters all wear suits that convert their bodily fluids into drinking water. They tame gigantic sandworms and ride them into battle. There are space witches who spread lies across the galaxy and the deserts are filled with psychedelic drugs – at one point, Paul accidentally trips on spice.Spaceballs 2could just be a full-blownDuneparody.
