Rick Moranis On Spaceballs And Ghostbusters Sequels
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After a stint on Canadian sketch comedy TV show SCTV (Second City Television), actor Rick Moranis spent the 1980s appearing in iconic science fiction comedies such as Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, and the musical Little Shop of Horrors. He has since taken a very long hiatus from acting to raise his children after the death of his wife Ann in 1991.
Moranis recently released a new comedy record called My Mother’s Brisket & Other Love Songs, and he is thinking about returning to the big screen. In an interview with Heeb Magazine, Rick Moranis talks about his ideas for a sequel to Mel Brooks’ cult hit Spaceballs, and whether Dan Aykroyd has approached him to reprise his role as Louis Tully in Ghostbusters 3.
Although Spaceballs wasn’t a big box office success in 1987, the Mel Brooks comedy gained cult status on home video. It even got to the point that MGM wanted to make an actual sequel, Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money. Moranis explains:
Mel wanted to do a sequel after it became a cult video hit. It wasn’t a box office hit. It was a cult video hit, and MGM wanted to do a sequel. And my idea for it was Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II. And I was unable to make a deal with Mel. I couldn’t make a deal.
It seems like a big missed opportunity. Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II is a great title! As for the oft-discussed Ghostbusters 3, Moranis says that Dan Aykroyd hasn’t personally approached him to appear in the would-be film, but someone associated with Dan Aykroyd called him about the project. According to Moranis:
I haven’t talked to Danny (Aykroyd) about it. Somebody he’s associated with called me and I said, ‘I wouldn’t not do it, but it’s got to be good.’ You know, I’m not interested in doing anything I’ve already done, and I thought the second one was a disappointment.
While Ghostbusters 2 fell very short of the original Ghostbusters film, it’s far from disappointing. There are actually small swaths of fans out there who consider Ghostbusters 2 to be better than Ghostbusters. Crazy fans, I say. Just crazy!
Dan Aykroyd has been trying to get Ghostbuster 3 off the ground since 1992. He has run into numerous (figurative) speed bumps and brick walls along the way, but still insists that Ghostbusters 3 will happen one day.
Read more about Rick Moranis and his (alleged) retirement in his interview with Heeb Magazine. And check out Louis Tully: Original Life Hacker below:
