See Rick Moranis’ First Red Carpet Appearance in Nearly 9 Years

22 hours ago 3

How Josh Gad's Daughter Became Inspiration for "Frozen 2"

Dark Helmet has returned—earlier than expected.

Though Rick Moranis has long stayed out of the public eye over the last few decades, he made a surprise return to the red carpet at CinemaCon on April 15 to tease the upcoming sequel to the 1987 cult hit Spaceballs.

For the outing in support of the Mel Brooks film, Rick posed alongside OG costars like Daphne Zuniga and Bill Pullman, as well as franchise newcomers Lewis Pullman and Josh Gad.

Although he didn’t join them at the event, in a pre-taped video during Amazon MGM’s CinemaCon presentation, Mel—who wrote, produced and starred in the Star Wars spoof—revealed the sequel will, in fact, not be called the previously teased title Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money, but Spaceballs: The New One.

“I’ll see you at the movies,” Mel said at the end of the message, “and may the Schwartz be with you.”

Rick’s return to the silver screen has been highly anticipated, as the Ghostbusters star hasn’t worked on any major projects in over 20 years, with him last appearing in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997), the third installment of the Honey I Shrunk the Kids franchise.

Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios

The 72-year-old had stepped away from Hollywood following the death of his wife Anne Moranis in 1991, and shifted his focus on raising their two kids.

“I took a break, which turned into a longer break,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in an October 2015 interview. “But I’m interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role and as soon as one comes along that piques my interest.”

“I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people,” he added, reflecting on his time in the industry prior to his wife’s passing. “I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful.”

And Rick certainly doesn’t regret returning to set to work with his costars and director Josh Greenbaum.

“Certainly in the beginning [of filming], when I was in costume and on the set,” he told Deadline in an interview alongside Daphne posted to Instagram on April 16, “I would look at Bill or Daphne and go, ‘I don’t believe this. How is this possible 39 years later?”

Daphne—who is reprising her role as Princess Vespa in the film—couldn’t agree more.

Stewart Cook/Amazon MGM Studios via Getty Images

“I was just like ‘How am I so lucky?’” she explained. “It’s great to work in this business, and sometimes you do things and they’re great or they’re alright, but this was like a dream. Just a dream to, at this point in my life, to be able to go play and be silly.”

Keep reading to see more stars who took a hiatus from Hollywood.

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App

Read Entire Article