Mel Brooks' 1981 film History of the World, Part I will finally have a sequel (of sorts). Hulu has ordered eight episodes of a variety series based on Brooks' comedy, according to Variety.
EGOT winner Brooks will write and executive produce History of the World, Part II with Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen, and Kevin Salter. Production is scheduled to begin in the spring for the Searchlight Television and 20th Television series.
Brooks co-starred in the original film, which was a comedic look at different eras of world history that also featured a few musical numbers. The cast also included the late Gregory Hines, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, and Cloris Leachman.
“I can’t wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History!” Brooks told Variety.
Brooks won his first Oscar in 1964 for writing and narrating the animated short The Critic and his second for the screenplay of his first feature film, The Producers, in 1968. Many hit comedies followed, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
He received three 2001 Tony Awards for The Producers, which ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2006. The stage adaptation of his movie holds the record for the most Tonys ever won by a Broadway production. He followed that success with Young Frankenstein, which ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009 and opened in London’s West End in fall 2017. In 2009, Brooks received a Kennedy Center Honor, and in 2013 he was the 41st recipient of the AFI’s Life Achievement Award. In 2016, President Obama presented him with The National Medal of Arts.
