Warner Bros. is ready to roll on “Gremlins 3.” The film has now been dated for November 19, 2027. The film was added to Warner Bros, release schedule, according to David Zaslav, the CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery, who revealed the news on Thursday’s investor call.
Too bad Joe Dante, 84, isn’t coming back to direct—his imagination runs wild when it comes to this franchise. We’ll have to make do with Columbus. Steven Spielberg, who produced the original through Amblin Entertainment, still holds major sway over the franchise and greenlit Columbus’ screenplay.
What’s clear is that “Gremlins 3” is no longer just a pipe dream. This shouldn’t come as a shock. With the massive box office success of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” another decades-later follow-up, studios are now even more bullish on legacy sequels. Warner Bros., in particular, has been doubling down—their “Practical Magic” sequel is currently in production.
“Gremlins 3” has been in various stages of development for years. Columbus, who wrote the original 1984 film, has long been attached as writer and producer. In a 2017 interview, he described the new installment as a direct sequel—not a reboot—and teased a “twisted and dark script,” which was originally co-written by Carl Ellsworth (“Disturbia,” “Red Eye”).
Columbus has also gone on record stating that the gremlins will not be CGI but will instead return to the practical puppetry that defined the original films. Now, with a script locked and Spielberg’s blessing as the last domino to fall, production could begin as early as 2026.
The first two “Gremlins” movies were real treats, especially the sequel, “Gremlins: The New Batch,” released in 1990, which had Dante upping the franchise into a wild, self-aware satire that pushed every boundary of the original. Instead of repeating the first film, Dante exploded it—mixing slapstick, Looney Tunes chaos, and satire on consumer culture and sequels themselves.
As for Columbus, he was the director critics loved to hate in the ’90s and early aughts. He directed a slew of highly successful films—“Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and “Stepmom.”
Columbus last directed “The Thursday Murder Club” for Netflix, a somewhat well-received hit for the streamer. His output over the last 20 years hasn’t been much to write home about, with titles like “Pixels,” “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” and “Rent.”
I'm going to say what a lot of people think, and won't say out loud: I don't believe Tom Holland can be a movie star outside of Spider-Man. That's been my genuine hunch for a few years now.