The comedy icon received a standing ovation at San Diego Comic-Con, where he reflected on returning to acting after decades away for ‘Spaceballs: The New One’
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NEED TO KNOW
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Rick Moranis made his first-ever Comic-Con appearance, entering in the iconic Lord Dark Helmet helmet
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Spaceballs: The New One marks Moranis’ first major live-action role in decades after stepping away to raise his kids
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The sequel reunites original cast members while adding newcomers like Josh Gad, Keke Palmer and Anthony Carrigan
Rick Moranis is officially back — and he says saying yes to the long-awaited Spaceballs sequel was one of the easiest decisions he’s ever made.
Appearing at the Spaceballs: The New One panel during San Diego Comic-Con on July 24, the beloved actor, 72, received a hero’s welcome as he made his first-ever Comic-Con appearance, complete with an entrance in the iconic Lord Dark Helmet helmet.
When asked what convinced him to return to acting after decades away from the big screen, Moranis had a characteristically deadpan answer. “The truth is that I had to say yes to this thing,” he joked. “It was the only way I could get Josh Gad to stop texting me.” (Gad co-wrote and produced the film, and also stars in it.)
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Behind the joke, however, was a return Moranis said had been decades in the making.
“Actually, I started talking to Mel about the sequel in 1989,” he said of Mel Brooks, who directed and starred in the original 1987 cult classic. “And we kept talking about it.”
Moranis largely stepped away from Hollywood in the late 1990s to focus on raising his children following the death of his wife, Ann Belsky. Though he’s occasionally taken on voice roles over the years, Spaceballs: The New One marks his first major live-action film in decades — a return fans have hoped for ever since he left the spotlight.
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The sequel reunites Moranis with original Spaceballs stars Brooks, 100, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga and George Wyner, while newcomers Lewis Pullman, Keke Palmer, Anthony Carrigan and Gad, 45, join the cast.
Despite his long absence from live-action filmmaking, Ghostbusters, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Little Shop of Horrors legend insisted he never thought of himself as retired.
“I really wasn’t retired,” he quipped. “I was just negotiating.”
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Ultimately, he said, everything aligned.
“This came along right at the right time,” Moranis explained to Kevin Smith, the panel’s moderator. “And I started talking to these folks and hearing who was going to be in it. And I spoke to Josh Greenbaum and I heard that Bill Pullman was coming back and that Lewis was going to be in it too. It just felt like, ‘This is it. It’s time.’”
“And yes,” he added, drawing loud cheers from the Hall H crowd, “I said yes. And it is the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Earlier in the panel, Moranis summed up his excitement about returning to the franchise with a smile.
“Pleasure to be here. And a pleasure to be here with this movie. I’m so excited about this.”
Spaceballs: The New One is scheduled to release in theaters on April 23, 2027.
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