Rick Moranis is returning to the big screen after an over two-decades long absence for Disney’s Shrunk, a legacy sequel top their classic science-fiction comedy Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.
Deadline is reporting that the actor has closed a deal to co-star in the film, which will be helmed by the original film’s director, Joe Johnston.
The new film will star Josh Gad as the son of Moranis’s brilliant, if slightly inept, inventor Wayne Szalinski. Gad’s character wants to follow in his father’s footsteps, but the only way he does so is by accidentally shrinking his own children. The script is by Todd Rosenberg.
Moranis has been pretty much retired from show business since his appearance in the 1997 Honey I Shrunk The Kids direct-to-video sequel Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, choosing to focus on raising his own children after his wife had died from cancer.
In 2018 Moranis participated in a live event that reunited him with his SCTV co-stars Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin and Martin Short. The event was filmed by Martin Scorsese and will be released on Netflix later this year as the documentary An Afternoon With SCTV.
I know that some people are probably a bit bummed that Moranis chose this project rather than the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife film to make his return to the big screen. And as a die-hard Ghostbusters fan, I would have loved to see him back on screen with Belushi, Aykroyd, Weaver and the rest, seeing whatever weird path Louis Tulley’s life had taken him on over the past years. But I know that Honey, I Shrunk The Kids has its own fans, so I am happy for them. But in the larger picture, I am just happy that Moranis is back at all. I’ve missed his quirky, nerdy persona and his impeccable comedy timing. It is too early to tell if this is just going to be a one-off situation or the start of a full-on comeback, but I know which one I am hoping for.
