In 2020, while the pandemic dominated headlines, entertainment news brought a bit of sunshine as the coveted star of such classic comedies as Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, and Little Shop of Horrors, Rick Moranis, was set to make his return to acting after taking an extended break from his career to spend time raising his children after his wife passed. One of the most beloved family movies that Moranis also iconically starred in is the 1989 Disney film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, which was brought to life by Jumanji director Joe Johnston. Along with Moranis’ return came the return of that nostalgic property as Disney announced a legacy sequel titled Shrunk.
Shrunk was to star Rick Moranis and Josh Gad, along with Johnston returning to direct. Since its announcement, however, not much has been heard about the project. The movie would, unfortunately, get delayed a number of times due to several factors. According to Deadline, Josh Gad has recently taken to social media to offer up an explanation of the setbacks and give a status of the movie. Gad posted on Twitter, “A lot of u ask me what’s going on with this film. Truth is, we were inches from starting and then COVID hit, inches from starting again & then my schedule exploded with conflicts, inches from starting again & budget got the best of us. If you want it, let your local @disney know.” The tweet also featured a teaser poster for the project.
Not many details have been revealed on Shrunk except for the two leads, Johnston returning, and the script was penned by Kung Fu Panda franchise writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who share the credit with Todd Rosenberg. It was also known that Gad was to play an adult Nick Szalinski, the son of Wayne Szalinski, Moranis’ scientist character from the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise. The plot would involve Nick following in his father’s footsteps as an inventor, and some way, somehow, someone is getting shrunk.
The 1989 original was a hit film for Disney. It was a unique adventure where four children of neighboring families venture through the jungle-like environment of the Szalinski’s backyard as they’ve accidentally been shrunk by Wayne Szalinski’s new invention. It spawned two sequels — 1992’s Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the direct-to-video Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves in 1997. It would also have a TV adaptation that ran for three seasons in 1997, in which Moranis was not involved.