Starring alongside the likes of the legendary John Candy and a very green Bill Pullman, Moranis did a good job making Dark Helmet stand out among the movie’s strong comedic cast. Apparently, however, his physical appearance in earlier drafts of the film’s script was going to be even more absurd, according to an interview Moranis did with The Hollywood Reporter. Moranis recalled:
“In the original script the description of the character was that the whole costume was one gigantic helmet. Then it got scaled back to just an exaggerated version of the Darth Vader helmet. It was very light — actually took one prop guy to maneuver it.”
While the idea of Rick Moranis engulfed in a gigantic helmet is certainly humorous, one can understand how that could have created some physical limitations for the actor’s performance, not to mention logistical issues on set. It’s probably best they went with the costume they ultimately did, as “Spaceballs” was another in Mel Brooks’ line of successes.
At one point, there were talks of Moranis reprising his role in a “Spaceballs” sequel, but those talks have come and gone. Moranis said:
“Mel wanted to do a sequel after it became a cult video hit. It wasn’t a box office hit. It was a cult video hit, and MGM wanted to do a sequel. And my idea for it was ‘Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II.’ And I was unable to make a deal with Mel. I couldn’t make a deal.”
Even if a sequel doesn’t happen, we’ll always have Moranis’ fantastic performance as Dark Helmet to help us remember how funny sci-fi can be.
