Daphne Zuniga was photographed arriving in Sydney on Friday as production for Spaceballs 2 prepares to begin, attempting to shield her identity with sunglasses as she moved through the airport with her luggage.
The 62-year-old actress, best known for her roles on Melrose Place and One Tree Hill, wore black track pants, a white T-shirt and a puffer vest, and completed the look with black sneakers and a cross-body bag. She was accompanied by her husband, David Mleczko, as she walked to an awaiting car.
Zuniga is set to reprise her role as Princess Vespa in the long-awaited sequel to the 1987 comedy Spaceballs. Bill Pullman, who played hero Lone Starr in the original, is also returning, and the new cast announced so far includes Pullman’s son Lewis Pullman and actor Keke Palmer. Mel Brooks, who produced and directed the original film, will return to the project in a producing capacity.
The film is being produced by MGM Amazon Studio from a script credited to Josh Gad, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, with Josh Greenbaum attached as director. Filming is expected to begin in Sydney in the coming weeks, and the production has been scheduled for release in 2027.
Spaceballs, released in 1987, was a broad satire of popular science-fiction films, most notably the original Star Wars trilogy, and lampooned other genre entries including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes and Star Trek. The first film centered on the villainous Dark Helmet, played by Rick Moranis, and President Skroob, played by Brooks, who sought to steal the atmosphere of the peaceful planet Druidia. They were opposed by Lone Starr and his companion Barf, portrayed by the late John Candy, alongside Princess Vespa.
Zuniga began her on-screen career at age 19 with the 1982 slasher The Dorm That Dripped Blood and rose to wider recognition as Jo Reynolds on the Fox soap opera Melrose Place from 1992 to 1996. She later played Victoria Davis on One Tree Hill from 2008 to 2012. In 2019 she married Mleczko in an intimate ceremony. Last year she reunited with former Melrose Place co-stars Courtney Thorne-Smith and Laura Leighton to launch an iHeart podcast titled Still The Place.
The announcement of principal cast and the arrival of Zuniga in Sydney add to growing momentum around the sequel, which has attracted attention for bringing back original leads while incorporating a younger generation of performers. Production sources have set the timetable for principal photography to begin shortly, with promotional activity expected to increase as the shoot progresses toward the planned 2027 release.