35 years later, Warner Bros has finally announced it is making a Gremlins 3. The new sequel will be executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, who reportedly was denied a chance to make a Call of Duty movie, so why not help produce a new Gremlins movie instead?
On November 6, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David “I’m Bad At My Job” Zaslav announced during the company’s third-quarter earnings call that a third Gremlins movie had recently been greenlit and had some big names attached. As mentioned, Spielberg is returning to the franchise to once again be an executive producer and will be producing the sequel through his company, Amblin Entertainment. Meanwhile, the writer behind the OG 1984 Gremlins movie, Chris Columbus, is returning to produce and direct the flick.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein are working alongside Columbus to help write the script for Gremlins 3. The duo previously directed this year’s smash hit horror sequel Final Destinations: Bloodlines.
Warner Bros. has set a November 19, 2027 release date for its new Gremlins sequel. That is 37 years after the last Gremlins movie, making it a true legacy sequel. Arriving in theaters in 1984, the original Gremlins was a massive box office success. On a budget of just $15 million, the Joe Dante-directed comedy-horror movie about evil little creatures who show up after some rules are broken while taking care of a cute Gremlin made over $150 million in the US alone.
However, six years later, Gremlins 2, also directed by Dante, only made $41 million, was ravaged by critics and fans, and basically killed the franchise. In 2023, WB produced an animated series based on the dormant property, and it seems the response to that was strong enough to convince the studio that Gremlins is still a worthwhile franchise. Let’s hope the third movie sticks to puppets and doesn’t go full CG. And I hope working on Gremlins 3 will help Spielberg get over Activision denying him the chance to make a Call of Duty movie.
