Rick Moranis Closes Deal To Return To ‘Honey, I Shrunk The Kids’ Franchise With ‘Shrunk’ At Disney

Anthony D'Alessandro
·3 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: Rick Moranis, the SCTV alum and comedy star of such hit pics as Ghostbusters, The Flintstones, Spaceballs and Parenthood, has closed a deal to return to the next Honey, I Shrunk the Kids sequel Shrunk. The movie will be made for the theatrical side, not Disney+.

Disney was trying to quiet rumors that Moranis was returning, but our breaking news today is that his deal, is done.

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As previously reported, the pic’s original director Joe Johnston will be back, with Josh Gad also starring. The movie centers on Gad’s character, who is the son of Moranis’ Wayne Szalinski, and is aspiring to be a great scientist like his father but accidentally shrinks the kids.

The 1989 movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids spawned Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the direct-to-video Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. The first two movies collectively made $281M at the global box office (unadjusted for inflation).

Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are producing through their Mandeville Films and Television banner, with Todd Rosenberg writing the screenplay.

In 1997, Moranis stepped away from on-screen acting work to raise his kids but continued to do voice-overs in such films as Disney’s Brother Bear movies and The Animated Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie during the early aughts. With his upcoming appearance in Netflix’s Martin Scorsese-directed documentary An Afternoon With SCTV, he’s making a comeback, and what a way to do so with a cherished Disney classic franchise. That special was taped in 2018 at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre with Moranis joining fellow SCTV alums Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, Martin Short and Dave Thomas. The special will be included in the Scorsese doc.

Moranis and Thomas created the drunken, parka-clad Canadian duo Bob and Doug McKenzie, two of the cult characters to come out of SCTV. The guys recorded The Great White North, a 1981 comedy album named after their SCTV skits, with an appearance by Rush’s Geddy Lee on the single “Take Off.” Moranis also directed them in the 1983 movie Strange Brew. The pic follows the McKenzie brothers as they get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery, only to learn that something is rotten with the state of it. The movie made $8.6M at the domestic box office, but it was an enormous cash cow on video during the 1980s and a must-watch for anyone in high school or college. Max Von Sydow starred as the villain.

Moranis is repped by Bailey Brand Management and Nelson Davis.

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