In 1984, Gremlins became an important part of cinema, as its intense subject matter combined with a family-friendly tone helped establish the need for a PG-13 rating. The horror-comedy gained a sequel in Gremlins 2: The New Batch in 1990, but there have been no developments in the series since. The original film’s director, Joe Dante, explained to Forbes the big snag was a matter of rights issues and internal politics at the studio.
“I probably have less information to give you than anybody because I am not involved with it, I don’t control the material, it’s reverted back to Chris Columbus who wrote the script for the first movie,” Dante confessed. “They have plans to do something but what Chris wants to do may not be what Warner wants to do and it’s not just Warner it’s also a lot of other people like Amblin and Steven Spielberg – everyone has to agree on what they want to do and at this point nobody is going to figure that out.”
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The sequel might not have been as well-received as the original, but Gremlins has become a staple for many horror fans around Christmas, being one of the more entertaining horror films that takes place around the holiday.
The second film brought back many of the original movie’s main characters, but Dante is doubtful the cast would be interested in reviving their characters.
The director admitted, “I think the reuniting of the cast is highly unlikely. Perhaps a Gremlins prequel might be something they will do but I don’t know as I was not asked to be involved.”
Columbus’ ideas for the franchise, however, would take a much darker turn.
Earlier this year, Columbus spoke with /Film about how Gizmo, the cute and cuddly Mogwai, was ultimately the root of all the problems in the films. The interviewer suggested potentially taking Gizmo out of the picture for good.
“I think it probably is a good idea to be honest with you,” Columbus said about eliminating Gizmo for good. “Too many people are dying.”
Additionally, the filmmaker explained he had a script for the project, which would be true to the tone of the original film.
“I’m really proud of the script,” Columbus said. “It is as twisted and dark as anything, so we’ll see. It’s always a budgetary conversation when we’re going to shoot it. I wanted to go back to the really twisted sensibility of the first movie. I found that was a very easy place for me to fall back into and start writing again so hopefully we’ll see that movie soon.”
We’ll have to stay tuned to see if anything more ever develops about a Gremlins 3.
