Spaceballs trailer drops packed with Star Wars and Avatar parodies

The return of Spaceballs has officially landed at CinemaCon, with Rick Moranis and Bill Pullman back at the center of attention as the first full trailer for Spaceballs: The New One debuted to a packed audience in Las Vegas.

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What stands out immediately is how comfortably Rick Moranis slips back into the role of Dark Helmet. For an actor who has largely stayed away from the screen, Rick Moranis returning at all felt unlikely; Rick Moranis doing it for this kind of chaotic, self-aware sequel makes more sense.

Rick Moranis, even in brief glimpses, looks right at home—awkward, ridiculous, and fully aware of the joke.

The same goes for Bill Pullman, who reprises Lone Starr with a slightly older, more worn edge. Bill Pullman’s presence anchors the madness in a familiar way, and Bill Pullman, sharing the screen again with this returning cast, gives the film a continuity it could have easily lost after nearly four decades.

That gap—39 years—is hard to ignore, but the film doesn’t seem interested in pretending time stood still. Instead, it uses that distance as material. Mel Brooks, now 99, still drives the tone, returning as Yogurt and shaping the film’s satirical voice, even if his appearance at the event came through a pre-recorded segment rather than in person.

The trailer itself wastes no time. It opens with a familiar desert setup echoing Star Wars: The Force Awakens before veering into rapid-fire gags—visual nods to Avatar, jabs at wizard franchises like Harry Potter, and a broader swipe at Hollywood’s tendency to endlessly recycle its biggest properties. At one point, Dark Helmet shares an absurdly mundane moment beside a Na’vi figure, the kind of joke that probably shouldn’t work but does.

Back on stage in Las Vegas, the returning cast—including Daphne Zuniga and George Wyner—felt like a deliberate signal that this isn’t just a reboot dressed as a sequel. It’s clearly trying to reconnect with what made the original stick, while also poking at what the industry has become since.

There are new additions, too. Josh Gad appears both on and off screen, while Keke Palmer and Anthony Carrigan join a cast that mixes nostalgia with newer energy. Lewis Pullman adds an extra layer of curiosity—sharing the screen in the same franchise space his father, Bill Pullman, helped define years ago.

Plot details are still mostly under wraps, though the setup hints at another large-scale conflict dressed up as a tournament of egos and corporate absurdity.

The film is set for release on April 23, 2027.