It’s been decades since Rick Moranis took a step back from the big screen. He did it after his wife, Anne Moranis, died of cancer in February 1991. He needed to raise his children. He didn’t want step out of the spotlight completely and he focussed on voice-work, which gave him more time with the family and paid the bills. Now it looks like he will be back in the franchise he built. This time alongside Josh Gad who plays his grown up son. His return to the movies at this level is massive news considering more recently he was rumoured to have a cameo in the new Ghostbusters film, which was squashed pretty quickly.
There are a couple of rumours about what the plot of the film will be. There’s the straightforward one – Gad’s character, who is the son of Moranis’ Wayne Szalinski, is aspiring to be a great scientist like his father and accidentally shrinks the kids. The other potential storyline would be a bit more personal for Moranis (which may have been the reason he signed on) this one is a bit more in depth and comes via The DisInsider –
Aware that the family ties have loosened over time but seemingly afraid to confront anyone directly. Wayne Szalinski has been tinkering alone in his attic for decades, dealing with the grief of losing his wife. When we first meet him, he has accidentally shrunk himself and is flying around on a shrunken drone — seemingly lost in a continuous of tinkering and experimenting that often puts himself and his family in jeopardy. He later reveals he shut himself away to try and invent a solution to help shrink Diane’s cancer but found it hard to cope when he ran out of time. His guilt and shame is palpable. Through the crisis of the kids getting shrunk, the truth emerges and the bonds begin to redevelop between him and his kids.
I kind of hope it’s the second one and not the more ‘easy’ first one. Marcia Strassman, who played the character of Wayne’s wife, Diane Szalinski, in both Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey and I Blew Up the Kid, died of cancer back in 2014. So this could be incredibly personal for him.
Time will tell. There is no news whether a fully fleshed-out script has been written yet. The production itself is likely to be months away. Either way, I’m really excited to see Rick Moranis back on the big screen. He was a massive part of my childhood, and many other people’s, too.
Welcome Back Rick!
