Rick Moranis joked Friday about his years away from Hollywood during San Diego Comic-Con’s “Spaceballs: The New One” panel.
In footage from the event, the Ghostbusters actor joked to the audience about his return to mainstream cinema: “I’m not really retiring. I was just negotiating!”
“This just happened at the right time,” Moranis said of the sequel to the iconic 1987 comedy, as the audience laughed.
Moranis said he decided to join the film, which is scheduled for release in April 2027, “after hearing who was going to be in it.”
The 73-year-old Little Shop of Horrors star said Bill Pullman will also appear in the sequel, bringing his son Louis Pullman with him.
“I was like, ‘This is it.’ This is…the time,” Moranis exclaimed.
Mel Brooks, Daphne Zuniga and George Weiner will also be returning, while KeKi Palmer, Josh Gad, Anthony Carrigan and Rowan Witt will also be joining the cast for the first time.
In social media threads, fans were excited to see Moranis return to his beloved role as Lord Dark Helmet in Spaceballs.
One person wrote: “Rick is a goat, welcome back 🙌🙌🙌,” while another chimed in: “Incredible speed,” referring to the original film.
“So happy to see Rick Moranis back on screen! Super cool guy and interesting life story,” a fan wrote on X.
Another said: “Such a great moment. A standing ovation like that shows how much love there is still for these characters. Great to have him back.”
One person exclaimed, “An absolute legend! One in a million! Big respect XX.”
They were enthusiastic in real life too. Footage from Comic-Con showed Moranis walking through the audience wearing an oversized Lord Dark helmet as fans gave him a standing ovation on stage, chanting “Rick! Rick! Rick!”
It’s been nearly 30 years since Moranis left Hollywood in 1997 after losing his wife, Anne Belsky, to breast cancer, and he made a triumphant return to the role in Spaceballs after 40 years.
The actor stepped away from the public eye after his mother died in 1991 to care for his daughter Rachel and son Mitchell.
The “Honey, Shrunk the Kids” actor briefly returned to screens in the mid-2000s with voice acting roles in “Brother Bear” and “Brother Bear 2,” but remained largely out of the spotlight for years.
“I took a vacation, and it turned into a longer vacation,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.
“I don’t regret it at all,” the actor emphasized. “My life is great.”
