Rick Moranis hasn’t appeared in a live-action theatrical movie since 1996, but that hiatus has now ended with the official confirmation that the Ghostbusters and Spaceballs star has signed on to reprise the role of Wayne Szalinski in Disney’s upcoming continuation of the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise.
This is big news, because apart from 2007’s TV special Bob & Doug McKenzie’s Two-Four Anniversary, the 66 year-old has only made a handful of voice-over appearances over the last two decades, with his last live-action role rather fittingly being 1997’s straight-to-video Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis has made it clear that he never officially retired from acting, but had become increasingly selective over choosing when to work in an effort to focus on raising his children following the death of his wife in 1991.
There has been plenty of rumors that he was set to make a brief cameo in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but Moranis has instead decided to return to another of his best-known roles. The Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot will also be something of a reunion of sorts, with original director Joe Johnston also set to get back behind the camera for the first time since the 1989 original.
The announcement also confirms that the latest installment is being developed as a theatrical release, and not a Disney Plus exclusive. Details are thin on the ground at present, with Josh Gad the only other name attached to the project, with the voice of Frozen’s Olaf set to play the son of Moranis’ Szalinski, who aspires to be a scientist like his father, but ends up roping in his old man for some assistance when he accidentally shrinks his own kids.
The plot makes the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot sound like the latest in a long line of legacy sequels that follow the remit of hitting some of the same story beats of the original, while also bringing back some familiar faces. Hopefully the movie marks a fitting return to the big screen for Moranis, instead of being the latest in a long line of follow-ups that try and sell themselves entirely on nostalgia and little else.