SAN DIEGO (AP) 鈥� Rick Moranis says he finally has an answer for all of the times that 鈥淪paceballs鈥� fans have stopped him to ask, 鈥淲hen are you guys going to finally make a sequel to that thing?鈥�
Fans at Comic-Con International were ecstatic with his response Friday. A crowd at the expo’s massive Hall H stood to cheer and applaud as the 73-year-old actor 鈥� long absent from Hollywood 鈥� joined a panel to promote his return as Dark Helmet in the long-awaited sequel to the 1987 cult classic.
When his name was first announced, Moranis hid in the crowd under his character’s extra large helmet as soldiers from the film used an oversized comb to search for the actor.
鈥淭his came along at the right time,鈥� said Moranis of the film, set for release next April. 鈥淚t just felt like this is it. 鈥� It is the best decision I ever made. It鈥檚 like family to me.鈥�
Moranis and Daphne Zuniga were joined on stage by director Josh Greenbaum, writer and actor Josh Gad, writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, along with new cast members Keke Palmer and Lewis Pullman. Pullman and Palmer鈥檚 character descriptions have not been revealed.
鈥淚t was so funny that I kept being like, 鈥極h my God! Can you believe they said that?鈥欌�� said Palmer about first reading the script.
Pullman says he was hesitant to join the film having grown up with it and watching his father Bill Pullman鈥檚 performance as Lone Starr.
鈥淚 read it and I was like, ‘Damn it. This is so good. 鈥� This is one of the funniest scripts I鈥檝e ever read.’ I rarely laugh out loud when I鈥檓 reading scripts,” Pullman said. “I would be a fool. It would be weird if I didn鈥檛 do it.鈥�
and Bill Pullman were not in attendance but greeted fans via prerecorded video.
Fans were shown behind-the-scenes footage of Brooks recording lines inside a vocal booth and reuniting with Bill Pullman and Zuniga, and a sneak peak at a teaser trailer.
Gad confirmed to fans that he was playing a mawg, but not John Candy鈥檚 character from the original, Barf. Gad said the new film would honor Candy and other original cast members who have since died, including Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise and Dick Van Patten.
The team poked fun at the 鈥渃inematic universe鈥� film timelines popularized by Marvel Studios with a parody displayed across Hall H’s wrap-around screens showcasing imagined sequels in more than 11 phases of 鈥淭he Almighty Schwartz Saga.”
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