Dark Helmet

Spaceballs is a 1987 American space opera parody film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It primarily parodies the original Star Wars trilogy, but also other popular franchises such as Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and Transformers. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis and Daphne Zuniga, with the supporting cast including Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, and the voice of Joan Rivers. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and Rudy De Luca in cameo appearances. In Spaceballs, heroic mercenary Lone Starr (Pullman) and his alien sidekick Barf (Candy) rescue Princess Vespa (Zuniga) of the planet Druidia and her droid, Dot Matrix (Yarnell, voiced by Rivers), from being captured by the Spaceballs, led by President Skroob (Brooks), who wants to use Vespa as ransom to obtain Druidia's air for their own planet. However, the heroes get stranded on a desert moon, where they encounter the wise Yogurt (also Brooks), who teaches Starr about the metaphysical power known as "the Schwartz". Meanwhile, Spaceball commanders Dark Helmet (Moranis) and Colonel Sandurz (Wyner) lead the search for them, but are hindered by their own incompetence. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) on June 24, 1987. It received mixed reviews upon release, but has since attained a cult following. A sequel is scheduled to be released theatrically by MGM in 2027; it is directed by Josh Greenbaum and co-written by Josh Gad and Brooks, and will star Lewis Pullman, Keke Palmer, and Gad, with Brooks, Bill Pullman, Moranis, and Zuniga reprising their roles.