In 1987, comedy legend Mel Brooks released Spaceballs, a parody of Star Wars that pit space rogue Lone Star (Bill Pullman) and his furry companion Barf (John Candy) against the vile Darth Helmet (Rick Moranis). Star Wars mania had by no means abated by that point — Return of the Jedi had come out four years before — but Spaceballs didn't get its own cult of fans until it came out on home video, which is how watched it when I was a tiny baby in the 1990s. I actually think I watched Spaceballs before I watched Star Wars, and it's still probably first in my heart.

Brooks made a couple of attempts over the years to get a sequel to Spaceballs made, but nothing took; according to Forbes, Moranis once pitched him on a movie called Spaceballs III: The Search for Spaceballs II, but it never came together. And so a couple...