Josh Gad Teases ‘Spaceballs 2’ As a “Celebration” of Mel Brooks

Josh Gad can vividly remember the first time he fell to the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. It occurred more than three decades ago during his first viewing of the Mel Brooks comedy classic, Young Frankenstein — particularly the iconic “Puttin On the Ritz” sequence between Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and his monstrous creation (Peter Boyle).

“That euphoria I felt, that joy I felt for this crazy form of comedy that is so unique,” Gad (Frozen, The Book of Mormon) says over Zoom while discussing his new partnership with Amazon Kindle Kids. “It is neither a spoof nor a parody, but uses all of those elements and somehow becomes as authentic to the said genre as any of the other movies. Meaning, I think you can put Young Frankenstein up there with the greatest monster movies. I think you can put Blazing Saddles up there with the greatest Westerns. It’s not just a parody. It’s a living, breathing monster movie. It’s a living, breathing Western.”

Gad, who proudly describes himself as “a student of Mel Brooks” is currently working alongside the master to realize the long-awaited sequel to Spaceballs. Currently slated for an exclusive theatrical debut sometime in 2027, the film will be directed by Josh Greenbaum (Strays, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar).

“With Spaceballs, Mel will tell you the actual story was not inspired by Star Wars, but by It Happened One Night,” explains Gad, who co-wrote the script with Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. “I love becoming not only a student of Mel Brooks films, but a student of Mel’s. Getting to work hand-in-hand with him has been one of the great thrills of my life and for the last three years, we have just spent every waking hour perfecting the script, making sure it’s worthy of everyone’s anticipation. I think we all finally feel really excited and thrilled with what we’re bringing to the table.”

Spaceballs 2 (here’s hoping it really is subtitled “The Search for More Money”) recently dropped a deluge of exciting updates, including the news that Brooks, Bill Pullman, and Rick Moranis would all reprise their famous roles as Yogurt, Lone Starr, and Dark Helmet, respectively. The inclusion of Moranis is a massive get for the project, considering how the actor retired from Hollywood years ago to raise a family after his wife passed. Just as impressive is Brooks stepping back into the shoes of Yogurt (his merchandising Yoda spoof), just a year away from his hundredth birthday. The man’s still got it!

Fresh faces to the goofy galaxy far, far away include Keke Palmer (Nope) and Pullman’s own son, Lewis (Thunderbolts*). In addition, distributor Amazon MGM Studios released a teaser trailer that poked fun at just how massive the Star Wars universe — and, by extension, Hollywood’s obsession with mining IP — has become since 1987.

“I can’t say much. What I can tell you is [that] if you love Mel Brooks, I think you’re gonna love this movie,” promises Gad. “It’s not only a celebration of Spaceballs, it really is a celebration of Mel and the entirety of his career. We’re hyper-aware of the many legacy sequels and, in particular, comedy sequels that have not worked. We have studied those as much as we’ve studied the great movies, just to understand why certain things don’t work and really commit to (hopefully) surprising audience with the expectation of, ‘Oh, my God! This is so much better than I thought it would be!’ At the end of the day, I think that’s the goal we all have in mind and so far, we’re feeling good about that. We’re feeling really good.”

As our Zoom call winds to a close, I probe the actor for an update on the next chapter in Disney’s Frozen franchise, whose third entry will also hit theaters in 2027. Echoing comments recently made by Jared Bush, Chief Creative Officer of Mouse House animation, Gad (one again voicing the happy-go-lucky snowman, Olaf) confirms that Frozen 3 is the first part of a larger story spread across two movies.

“They’re keeping us in the dark so much, because I’m sure that they are so afraid one of us will spill the beans in an interview like this,” Gad concludes. “So thankfully, I can’t tell you anything, because I literally can’t tell you anything. But what I can say is, with the limited things I know and what I’ve seen, I am so excited. You never want to do a sequel if it doesn’t have a reason to exist and this is one of those movies that is taking the amount of time it’s taking because [director Jennifer Lee] and company organically found not only a story worth telling, but a story worth telling in two parts. It’s so ambitious, so fun, and so unbelievably exciting, [that] I think it’s gonna be worth the wait.”