Written by Patti Pauley

It’s been a hot minute since we heard ANYTHING solid on the latest sequel to the 1984 blockbuster Gremlins. As a matter of fact, with all the nostalgic horror films getting the reboot watermark or better late than never sequels as of late, I’m insanely shocked this hasn’t happened yet. However, the snail-like pace to get Gremlins 3 off the ground may be well worth the wait. We’ve learned in prior reports that Gremlins 3 is actually a sequel and NOT a reboot of the beloved franchise, and that we’ve had a change of writers over the last two years; which would certainly attribute to its delay. Previous penned writers Morgan Jurgenson and Alex Ankeles seem to have jumped ship only to be replaced by, ahem, Chris Columbus!

How could you not get excited by that alone?

The wonderfully gracious Zach Galligan who portrays Billy Peltzer in the classic Dante films, has been reassuring social media for some time that the film is indeed coming through interviews and personal posts. His most recent update on the film has come via an interview with Bleeding Cool when prompted about what’s next for the anticipated sequel.

I think you can tell what’s happening with Gremlins 3 the same way you could tell with Gremlins 2. It’s the same people and they tend to work the same way. There is a huge time gap but it’s Warner Bros, Spielberg and Chris Columbus. Now, Chris Columbus didn’t have anything to do with Gremlins 2 – because by his own admission he didn’t see a franchise. He kind of regrets it I believe, but he was ‘one and done.’ I don’t think he cared for Gremlins 2 and the direction some of the characters went in, so he’s kind of wrested control back. Everything I’m quoting is stuff he’s publicly said: ‘There will NEVER be a remake.

There will NEVER be a reboot. There will only be a SEQUEL.’

On Chris Columbus:

[Columbus] has been aggressively working on a Gremlins 3 that takes place in present day. He tantalizingly says there will be some NEW characters and some OLD characters – I guess in the style of a Force Awakens type sequel. One thing we know for sure is they have a writer on board. The only insight I can give is the following: There was a 6 year gap between Gremlins and Gremlins 2; most of that time was spent with them writing and rejecting ideas and re-writing. One of the ideas that was rejected was ‘gremlins in Vegas.’ They went with that for 18 months and felt it was too expensive. Eventually they came up with the tower idea, where essentially I’m working for Donald Trump, our new President! That took six years to happen. Carl Ellsworth has been apparently working on the script for a year and a half now. If no new names start appearing on the IMDB listing then that means they like the script. If new names start appearing, y’know Kevin Smith appears, it means it’s back in rewrites with a new vision.  Warner Bros definitely wants it, Chris Columbus wants to do it because he’d like to undo the Gremlins 2 thing as he wasn’t thrilled with it and Spielberg wants to do it I imagine – because he’s Spielberg – and why wouldn’t he want to do it. Once he’s found the right script he can attach his name and make a ton of money. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In a nutshell, according to this report, Columbus essentially wants to forget The New Batch ever happened and make a direct sequel to the 1984 Mogwai epic. And it certainly sounds as if Warner Bros. wants this movie done. And why wouldn’t they? Gizmo’s return to the big screen would absolutely make them a ton of money, and speaking personally as a fan of the little mischief makers myself, I’d be happy to throw my money at them for another Gremlins film.

For more Gremlins related reads, check out my personal 10 favorite Gremlins from both films by clicking here! I promise you, the list is not ca-ca.