It sounds like we might get to hang out with the Gremlins again soon in a new movie. You remember the rules, right?
Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is interested in creating a new movie in the Gremlins universe with Christopher Columbus, who penned the screenplay for the original 1984 film directed by Joe Dante. A beloved cult classic franchise, it has always been a little surprising that Warner Bros. didn't produce more Gremlins movies after the 1990 sequel The New Batch.
But the production company has shown interest in more Gremlins content, see the animated series on Max that has two seasons, the more recent of which started streaming in October.
Conversations regarding a third live-action Gremlins film started as early as 2013, but they never came to fruition. However, rumors have been swirling for a while now that Warner Bros. wanted to bring back the franchise, likely due to the animated series being relatively well-received.
In February of last year, original Gremlins star Zach Galligan, who played Billy in the films, told ScreenRant about his hopes for a third movie, noting that it seemed like a sizable investment for Warner Bros. to spend money on two seasons of an animated show if they didn't have some kind of an "endgame" involving a live-action movie. Galligan also said that Columbus had "nixed" the idea of a reboot, so it sounds like a potential third movie would be a direct sequel.
Perhaps the next Gremlins movie will be a little darker. In December, Columbus discussed some of his early ideas for the script and they involved Gizmo transforming into a monster along with more character deaths. Columbus ultimately agreed with Dante, though, that Gizmo's transformation wouldn't fit the film's overall tone, saying, "The audience needed someone to relate to in terms of the gremlins, and that was Gizmo.”
The 1984 film centers on a Christmas gone awry when a man purchases an unlikely gift for his son. The gift in question is Gizmo the mogwai, a special breed of creature that comes with very strict rules, namely, don't feed it after midnight, no bright light, and don't get it wet. Of course, all of these rules get broken and Gizmo spawns devilish chaos-causing gremlins. Gremlins: The New Batch follows a similar plot with a new location as the creatures instead take on New York City.
Deadline also reports that Warner Bros. is interested in making new movies for other popular franchises like The Matrix and The Goonies, and that's in addition to their new franchise hopes with projects such as Practical Magic 2 and Mike Flanagan's take on Clayface for the DC Universe.