Aging Stars Release New Films, Risking Their Creative Legacies

Mel Brooks teased sequels to both “Spaceballs” and “History of the World, Part 1” back in the ‘80s.

The former made its intentions clear in tongue-in-cheek fashion – “Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money,” Brooks’ character said in the film.

The 97-year-old funnyman is finally making good on his promises, but the results threaten a legacy up until now has remained bulletproof.

The same holds for other aging stars who can’t let their signature franchises go.

Brooks. Mel Gibson. Danny Glover. Eddie Murphy.

Their quest to revive long-dormant IPs could remind us why we loved them in the first place. Or, more likely, they’ll make us wish they left well enough alone.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Peabody Awards

Brooks’ legacy has remained certified gold despite the occasional clunker (“Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” “Life Stinks”). His big-screen classics like “The Producers,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles” remind us of a time when comedy had no guardrails.

Funny was funny, and no one did it better than Brooks. His “Producers” revival on the Great White Way only polished his gleaming brand.

He’s still vibrant and funny in his 90s, but he recently decided to revisit “History of the World Part I” for a modern generation.

Uh oh.

The result? Hulu’s multi-episode “History of the World Part 2,” created by comics eager to add their woke bromides into warped historical takes. Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes and Nick Kroll couldn’t duplicate Brooks’ old-school wit. Instead, they inserted lectures along with a black Jesus (Jay Ellis) and Mary Magdalene (Zazie Beetz).

Is anyone still talking about the 2023 series? Will it be rewatched as aggressively as Brooks’ version? Sadly, Brooks served as a producer and narrator on the sequel series. 

That comes to mind as news of a “Spaceballs” sequel hit the news. Josh Gad of “Frozen” fame will co-write and star in the film, also to be produced by Brooks.

The original “Spaceballs” proved hit or miss, but characters like Pizza the Hut and Barf, the Chewbacca riff played by John Candy, became part of comedy lore. The film also arrived as “Star Wars” fever still gripped the culture.

Today, “Star Wars” is mostly a punchline.

If Team “Spaceballs” leans into the Disney “Star Wars” era and its heavy-handed agenda, it could have a solid satirical base. We’ll see.

Eddie Murphy is much younger than Brooks, but at 63 he’s also returning to the saga that made him a superstar. The Netflix original “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” (July 3) brings Murphy’s fast-talking hero back alongside some familiar franchise faces – Judge Reinhold, John Ashton and Bronson Pinchot.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Netf. IMDB. Copyright 2024 Netflix, Inc.

The franchise’s two sequels made money but proved shadows of the cutting original. The latest sequel has been teased for some time, but now it’s a streaming title, skipping theaters entirely.

That alone feels wrong.

Plus, the shadow of “Coming 2 America” hangs heavily over the project. That belated sequel, another streaming original (Prime Video), lacked the humor and heart of the original. It, too, bowed to the Woke Gods in its alleged yuks.

Will “Axel F” improve on that model or sink to its lows?

Murphy is a relative rookie compared to Danny Glover. The veteran actor, nearing his 78th birthday, will reprise his role as Det. Roger Murtaugh in a fifth “Lethal Weapon” film.

So says 68-year-old Mel Gibson, set to star and direct in the latest installment of the action franchise. The last film in the saga hit theaters in 1998. Gibson said the latest installment is an homage to late director Richard Donner who helmed the previous installments.

Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

Gibson is still mending fences following his infamous, antisemitic meltdown. Glover works regularly, but he hasn’t anchored in a film in some time.

The irony?

The 1987 original featured Glover’s classic line, “I’m too old for this s***,” which he uttered when he was roughly 40. What will he say this time?

Age is a common denominator in all of the above, but it doesn’t imply great art can’t be made by older artists. Nor are belated sequels necessarily a bad idea. Yes, we didn’t need “Zoolander 2,” but “Anchorman 2” didn’t embarrass its fan base.

Even better was Martin Scorsese’s belated sequel to “The Hustler,” 1986’s “The Color of Money.” Pairing Paul Newman with Tom Cruise proved worth the wait.

The best stars learn how to age gracefully. Clint Eastwood has directed several excellent films, including “Sully” and “American Sniper,” in his golden years.

Clint Eastwood in Juror #2. Clint Eastwood. Juror #2. Warner Bros.

The stars of the “Bad Boys” franchise, 50-somethings Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, have factored Father Time in with their more recent adventures. Lawrence’s character nearly expires in “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” but the film uses the plot point to great comic effect.

Age has added both gravitas and gravity to a silly saga, and it’s a better series as a result.

Still, older stars risk not only embarrassing themselves in projects from their youth but diminishing their creative legacies in the process. 

The search for more cash can be addictive, but celebrities should proceed with extreme caution.

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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.