Actor Rick Moranis has signed on to appear in Disney’s upcoming Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot, finally bringing an end to his long retirement.
As reported by both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, Moranis will reprise the role of bumbling inventor/family man Wayne Szalinski, having previously played the character in 1989’s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, 1992’s Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis also played the character in Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, a 3D film featured at several Disney theme parks between 1994 and 2010.
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Following earlier reports that Josh Gad was in talks to star in the reboot, both Deadline and THR say Gad has officially signed on to play Wayne’s son Nick, suggesting the new movie is more sequel than reboot. The original Honey, I Shrunk the Kids director Joe Johnston will return for the sequel, with Todd Rosenberg writing the script and David Hoberman producing. While previous rumors indicated the sequel the new movie would be exclusive to Disney+, Deadline is now reporting Disney is planning a full theatrical release.
This will be Moranis’ first live-action role since Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis famously retired from acting in 1997, later telling USA Today, “I’m a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn’t miss it. In the last few years I’ve been offered a number of parts in movies, and I’ve just turned them down. I don’t know whether I’ll go back to it or not.”
Moranis has appeared in a handful of voice-over roles since retiring from acting, including Rutt in 2003’s Brother Bear and briefly reprising his Spaceballs role in a 2018 episode of The Goldbergs. However, Moranis has largely remained off the Hollywood radar in the past two decades, inviting comparisons to other intensely private celebrities like Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. Moranis even turned down an offer to appear in 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot. We also recently learned Moranis won’t be appearing in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That’s what makes his return to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids such a welcome surprise.
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Moranis may not be interested in busting ghosts, but most of the surviving cast from the 1984 original is coming back for Afterlife. Check out the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife and see all the clues pointing to the return of a major villain. Then see how we think Afterlife will stack up against 2020’s biggest blockbusters.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Rick Moranis to Appear in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Sequel