History of the World Part 2 Showrunner Addresses if There Will Be a Part 3
It took forty years for Mel Brooks to make History of the World Part 2 from the time he first released Part 1 in theaters, but executive producer Davis Stassen is hoping for a Part 3...much sooner than that. During an interview with ComicBook.com, Stassen -- who serves as showrunner on the Brooks-produced Hulu series, hopes for another crack at it, but he says at this point it's in the hands of Hulu, who can choose to renew it or not based on the show's reception.
In other words, the series -- a star-studded sketch comedy show -- was not created with a sequel in mind, necessarily. But they certainly would jump at the opportunity to make one.
"I hope so," Stassen told ComicBook.com's Chris Killian. "I'd be lucky to get to work on it again; I hope Hulu, however they decide, whether it's the numbers or whatever, I hope it does well, and they want to do it again. It's a possibility, but we haven't been told anything yet. Maybe they just want to make sure it's not the least successful sketch show of all time."
The official synopsis for the series is pretty basic, saying, "There is finally a sequel to the seminal Mel Brooks film, HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, with each episode featuring a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history."
Drawing on some of the greatest comedians of the era, Brooks assembled a cast that averaged a little older than the average Hollywood blockbuster, with stars like Sid Caesar, Dom DeLuise, and Henny Youngman, with narration by Orson Welles.
Shecky Greene, Barry Levinson, and Brooks himself are among the only surviving members of the original film's cast. Greene, who played Marcus Vindictus in the film, was inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in 2020, but has not had an on-screen credit since 2000, excepting some brief appearances in documentaries. Levinson, who had a cameo appearance in History of the World, Part I, is best known not as an actor or comedian, but as a filmmaker. He has produced and directed movies like Rain Man, Wag the Dog, and Good Morning, Vietnam. He is currently working with Hulu on Dopesick, and with Paramount+ on Francis and the Godfather.
Brooks's other credits include comedy classics like Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. Late in his career, his directorial debut -- 1967's The Producers -- was adapted into a stage show that became a huge hit on Broadway. Brooks then helped adapt the stage show into a feature film which was directed by Susan Stroman.
