1984’s Gremlins remains, in my mind, one of the greatest films ever made. It’s dark, it’s funny, it creates its own wondrous mythology — a true classic. Its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, isn’t really any of those things, which is probably why the franchise has lay dormant for the past 27 years. But a third Gremlins picture may be on the way, and it sounds like it will be more in the spirit of the original.
In an interview with /Film, Chris Columbus — who wrote the first film but not the second — said that he has completed a script for a third Gremlins movie that looks to right the wrongs of Gremlins 2. “I’m really proud of the script,” he 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.”
Clearly a man after our own heart, Columbus also claimed that his Gremlins 3 would still feature puppets as the titular creatures, and the film’s use of CGI would be kept to a minimum and would only used to enhance the puppetry — not replace it. “Oh, without a doubt, minimal CGI,” he said. “CGI will enable us to remove wires and make the puppeteers lives a little easier. It was brutal. It was like a marathon every night for those guys. In the bar scene alone there were 18 [or] 20 people behind the bar. No one had any space to move. It was just hellish for those guys so CGI will simplify that a little bit but it’s all puppets.”
Columbus also stated that the movie would get into the question of whether or not Gizmo should be killed for his role in spawning the gremlins. “That comes up in the movie, certainly,” Columbus admitted. “I think it probably is a good idea to be honest with you. Too many people are dying.”
The writer claims that the film is in development at Warner Bros., but we’re not holding our breath just yet. The filmmaker has just one screenwriting credit to his name over the past two decades, and that was 2004’s Christmas with the Kranks, so we’re not sure that he would be the studio’s first choice to resurrect such a potentially lucrative property (though he would certainly be our first choice).
So while we wait for more news on a potential Gremlins 3, we can pass the time by watching Key & Peele‘s hilarious takedown of the ridiculous mess that is Gremlins 2.
